


Tsuna's Fantastical Pokemon Adventure

by haplesshippo



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Experimentation, Gen, Hand wavy science, Houen-chichou | Hoenn, Humor, Shinoh-chihou | Sinnoh, Tags Contain Spoilers, oops the story accidentally got kind of dark, reborn is a menace to society, tsuna stop accidentally catching pokemon gdi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-14 06:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11777475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haplesshippo/pseuds/haplesshippo
Summary: Or the one where Tsuna really, really didn't want anything to do with Pokemon, and somehow, he ended up with the rowdiest, most terrifying group of Pokemon possible. Really, how was this his life?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from FF.net. I wrote the first three chapters 2 years ago, and then decided, hey, why not post to AO3 too, so. Here you go. That's why you might notice a change in writing styles before and after chapter 3.

Sawada Tsunayoshi had never really wanted anything to do with Pokemon. They were dangerous, vicious, and often incredibly scary. If their pre-evolved forms were adorable balls of fluff, their evolutions were fierce, snarling beasts ready to tear his face off. Sure, some were beautiful, looked gentle, and gave off an aura of majestic perfection, but still, Tsuna knew, deep inside, they were waiting for the chance to hurt him.

He'd always had evidence to support his claims, no matter how much his father nudged Zigzagoon towards him or his mother asked if he'd wanted a Swablu for his birthday. The  _last_ time Tsuna had tried to pet a Zigzagoon, supposedly curious and somewhat dull-witted creatures, it had leapt at him with enthusiasm and proceeded to scratch at his clothes, tearing off pieces of cloth and chewing at his hair.

It was safe to say that Tsuna was scared of Pokemon in general.

"It's because you look like a little, fluffy Pokemon yourself," Sawada Iemitsu joked, laughing and ruffling his son's hair when a Taillow had dive-bombed him and pecked at his hair. The man waved off the wild Pokemon, and the bird fled.

Tsuna had pouted adorably and made up his mind that he'd never,  _ever_ get a Pokemon.

Naturally, because such was the law of the universe, Tsuna's future was filled with many, many confrontations with Pokemon, and whether he liked it or not, he'd be surrounded by him. It was a good thing he didn't know, else he'd probably burrow under the ground like a Diglett and never emerge again.

* * *

If there was one quality about Tsuna that everyone knew, it was that he was a scared, cowering slip of a kid. It didn't matter that he was fifteen, the brunet refused to venture outside of his hometown, Verdanturf Town, and instead contented himself with helping around the Poke Mart his mother ran while his father was away 'exploring the great outdoors'.

(Tsuna never begrudged his father of his explorations. While he did always protest when his father left for months, he'd always come back, drawn to his mother's gentle smile and the sweet, fresh air of Verdanturf. He'd always bring back money from whatever odd jobs he did, stay for a week or two, and leave on another adventure. Although Tsuna knew his mother grew lonely sometimes, his father would always return, eyes sparkling and skin several shades darker, with stories of grappling with Tentacruel and riding on the back of a Wailord. Tsuna never really believed these stories, but Nana's face would redden with interest and become captivated with the man she married.

Somehow, this relationship worked for his family, and if Nana didn't protest too much, neither would Tsuna.)

Whenever he spied a trainer's Pokemon, he'd edge away from it and hope that it wouldn't spot him. He absolutely  _refused_ to venture out into Route 117, and whenever he did, he'd ride fast on his Rydel Mach Bike, scrape himself several times from falls, jump away from rustles in the grass, and arrive sweating and panting in Mauville City. It was always a terrifying experience for him.

What was less known about his personality, though, was his kind heart. As scared as he usually was of Pokemon, it was downright ironic that he'd never leave one in pain, no matter how terrifying it was. Not known to anyone, once he'd nursed a Roselia back to health despite its stormy face and threatening poisonous thorns. He'd snuck a Potion from the Poke Mart's inventory to it and, after sitting a safe distance from it for two days, the wild Pokemon had mustered the strength wave its flowers at him wildly, twirled, and fled. Tsuna thought it was going to spear him and poison him to death and had frozen as it pranced away. (In reality, the Roselia had performed a small dance in gratitude. Tsuna was never good at interpreting the intentions of Pokemon.)

It was a combination of events, his bleeding heart, and sheer misfortune that threw him headlong into a life he didn't expect and most decidedly  _did not want_. Too bad the world never asked him for his opinions.

* * *

"Tsu-chan, I need you to grab some supplies from Mauville City."

Tsuna's head shot up like an alarmed Rattata's, and fearful brown eyes peered at Nana from over a shelf he was restocking.

"W-what?" he squeaked.

Nana frowned down at a clipboard in his hand. "We're nearly out of Antidotes, and our next shipment won't be in for another week. I've already contacted the Poke Mart in Mauville, and they said that they'd be willing to send over some if we ordered extra the next time and sent it back. I can't leave the shop, so you'll have to go get them."

Tsuna paled. "Are you sure you need me to go? There shouldn't be  _that_  many trainers who need Antidotes, right…?" he asked hopefully.

Right on cue, as if the universe was conspiring against him, the Poke Mart's doorbell rang, and a hassled looking trainer entered. He strode up to Nana, who beamed at the young man.

"I need some Antidotes."

Tsuna cried.

* * *

The sky was a light blue, full of clouds as fluffy as Altaria and a bright, shining sun. A gentle wind whipped at Tsuna's clothes, and the grass bent gently under his shoes and bike.

Tsuna felt as if it was his doomsday.

_It's okay, it's just a short ride, you'll be okay_ , he coached himself mentally as he clumsily swung his leg over his bike. He prayed to whatever gods out there that he'd make it through safely and with no encounters from any sort of Pokemon before pedaling furiously out of his hometown.

There were several scares along the way (a breeder shouted out to him, Volbeat and Illumise swarmed around him, a stray Poochyena growled warningly, and he swore,  _there was something in the grass watching him oh my god_ ), but he managed to reach Mauville safely. Well, if safely equated with sweating, panting, and incredibly stressed out.

He locked his bike outside of the Mauville Poke Mart before entering the air conditioned building and stumbling exhaustedly towards the shop clerk.

"Can I…help you…?" the clerk asked, eyebrows furrowed as he watched the fifteen year old teen nearly trip over himself. The boy's face was an ugly splotched red color, and his eyes were full of unshed tears. The clerk wanted to pet the poor boy but decided against it, as his hair was probably full of sweat, no matter how fluffy it looked.

"Y-yeah," Tsuna said, struggling for air and to compose himself. "I'm here for a shipment of Antidotes for Verdanturf."

"Oh!" the clerk exclaimed before disappearing under the store counter. After a short while, the man reemerged with a box, and Tsuna belatedly realized that he wouldn't be able to speed through Route 117 again with a big, unwieldy box. He'd either have to walk his bike through with the box on top of it or bike through with the box blocking his vision. Either option would result in him most probably getting mauled by a wild Pokemon.

Quickly, he checked his pockets before internally wailing in dismay. He hadn't even brought his wallet so he could buy a repel.

The clerk watched the kid with a puzzled expression before nudging the box forwards hesitantly.

"Er, your supplies?" the man asked while the delivery boy melted onto the pristine tiles of the Poke Mart. He peered over the counter before sighing. He'd leave the boy to his mental breakdown, then.

* * *

It was only after half an hour of mental anguish that Tsuna finally managed to make it out of the Poke Mart with his box of Antidotes and a sort of resignation that one usually faced with execution had. He plopped the box on the seat of his bike and strapped it on using a length of rope the shopkeeper had so generously provided before wheeling the bike back into the heart of Mauville. He peered to his left, where the (admittedly very nice and peaceful) wilderness sprawled before him.

He paused and coached himself.

_Really, it's not that bad. There's no grassy areas directly on the way back, and the trainers there are usually nice enough that they'll help you if you're in trouble. There's nothing to worry about. Absolutely_ nothing _._

After a moment of hesitation, all previous thoughts were replaced with the growls of Poochyena and lethal poison of Roselia. No, nope, nada, he  _couldn't do this_.

"Did you see it? The poor thing…"

"That was no poor thing, it was a demon."

"How did it get all the way out here?"

Whispers coming the direction of Route 118 met his ears, and Tsuna looked over curiously. He saw a group of people staring out towards the beach, some worried, some fearful. Tsuna's curiosity won against his natural fearfulness at what sounded like an injuring Pokemon, and he wheeled his bike towards the group.

"U-um, excuse me, but what are you talking about?" he asked politely. The man who had commented on the 'demon' glanced down at the young, fluffy haired boy.

"There's an injured Houndour by the sea. Several people have tried to get close to it, but it's a hostile little thing. Won't let us get close to it at all," the man explained, turning back towards the sea and peering at a black Pokemon washed up on the beach. Tsuna felt his heart pound in sympathy, and he leaned his bike against a nearby fence before approaching the Houndour (which Tsuna had never even heard about before, was it a species from another region?). As he drew closer, shoes sinking into the sand, he grew to understand why the man had thought the Pokemon could have been a demon.

A Houndour was apparently a little black canine, teeth bared in warning and pitch black eyes shooting daggers at all who dared strayed close. Tsuna gulped and quickly backed up, his fear of Pokemon resurfacing, before he noticed the way the Houndour seemed to be nursing his side. It looked like a cornered animal, and Tsuna's heart pounded in sympathy. Its fur was matted with blood and salt water, and its body was wracked with minute shivers.

Ignoring the steadily increasing growls, Tsuna crept slowly towards the Pokémon. He held out his shaking hands, revealing no hidden weapons in them, and crouched.

"Hey, there, you look hurt. I can take care of you if you want," Tsuna said in a voice that he used on some of the younger kids at home. The Houndour snapped his jaws menacingly, and Tsuna flinched before resolving himself. This was an injured Pokemon, and no matter how scared he was of them, Pokemon were living beings too, and Tsuna would always help those who needed help, even if it was a menacing Salamence about to bite his head off. If there was one thing Tsuna could not leave alone, it was a hurt being, Pokémon or human.

"Look, I don't even have to catch you. I'll take you to the Pokécenter, get you fixed up, and let you go, okay?" Tsuna continued. The black canine sent Tsuna a withering look and narrowed his eyes, although his teeth were not as prominently bared.

Finally, Tsuna was close enough to touch the injured Pokémon. The Houndour was soaked through and obviously weak for it. He wondered if, somehow, the Houndour had washed up on shore from the ocean. It certainly seemed like it. There was a gash hidden among the black fur, not too deep but bleeding, and the Pokémon seemed exhausted. Perhaps the Pokemon was a fire-type?

As Tsuna reached out his hand, the Houndour snapped his jaws around the teen's hand. Tsuna flinched but didn't draw his hand back. He'd had worse injuries by the many bullies that used to tease him about his irrational fear ("Seriously, Dame-Tsuna, how are you going to live in a world filled with Pokemon if you're  _scared_  of them? Scardy cat!").

"I'm going to pick you up, okay?" Tsuna asked, well aware that he was talking to the Pokémon like he would a small child, and gently scooped the canine into his arms. The Houndour breathed out a small Ember, too weak to manage another attack, and growled unhappily.

With the Pokémon safe in his arms, Tsuna rushed towards the Pokécenter and past the group of gossiping people from earlier. The man from earlier had his eyebrows raised and a somewhat impressed look on his face. Too bad Tsuna didn't notice it, so focused was he on the shuddering, warm body in his arms. He burst into the Pokecenter and rushed to the front desk.

"Nurse, I need this Pokémon healed right away!" Tsuna panted. By no means was he athletic (as demonstrated by his biking rush from Verdanturf to Mauville), and the short run from the shore to the center had been tiring. The Houndour levelled an unimpressed stare at the boy, and Tsuna flushed slightly.

"Right away. Why isn't he in his Pokéball?" the nurse asked, motioning Tsuna to lay the Houndour onto a gurney beside her. Tsuna carefully set the Houndour down and stepped back, finally noticing the stinging in his hand due to the bite.

"He's not mine. I found him by the shore," Tsuna explained, wincing as his hand stung. It was red from the heat in the Houndour's mouth, and a neat circular row of imprints dotted it.

"Well, we'll get him treated. Do you need some help with your hand?" the nurse asked as a Chansey rolled the gurney and the Houndour, which had finally fallen limp from exhaustion, away.

"Yes, please," Tsuna replied politely. The nurse nodded and left. As Tsuna collapsed on the plastic chairs in the waiting room, exactly what had happened rushed to him. His eyes found themselves wandering to the ugly, burnt bite on his hand (which honestly wasn't that bad, but his imagination was rather active when enhanced by his fear), and he shrieked in surprise and pain.

_His life_ , Tsuna cried and melted into another puddle of human goo at the foot of his seat.  _Why was this his life._

* * *

After reassurance from the nurse that the wound wouldn't even scar, Tsuna settled down enough to call his mom on the complimentary calling stations. After a brief (very brief, no way was he going to let his mom know about his numerous freakouts) summary of the day's events, his eyes wandered to the nurse. He bade his mother goodbye and warily wandered up to the desk, where the nurse was scanning charts on her desk.

"E-excuse me, but…how is the Houndour?" he asked. The nurse looked up in surprise at his wording.

"The Houndour? It's not yours?" she asked.

Tsuna shook his head mutely, and the nurse's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Whose is it? Did you take it from someone?"

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows before the full implications of her question hit him. After all, the atrocities of Team Rocket had yet to fade, even though the criminal syndicate had long fallen, taken down by some teen and his Pokemon. Despite the lack of crime lately, the suspicion was still there, in the back of many people's minds.

"Take it? No, of course not! Why would I do that?" Tsuna exclaimed and felt indignant at the accusation. Steal a Pokemon? Never! He frowned fiercely. "I wouldn't do that to anyone or their Pokemon."

The nurse studied the young man in front of him before nodding understandingly. This teen, who looked so affronted at the accusation and horrified at the mere thought of such a crime, surely couldn't steal any Pokemon.

"Alright, I believe you," the nurse replied. "The Houndour's fine. In fact, we can release him soon."

_Him?_ Tsuna thought before sighing. Of course Pokemon had genders. It just hadn't occurred to him that the Pokemon was either male or female. It didn't matter, he supposed. As soon as he was out of the Pokecenter, Tsuna would just release him into the wild and hope to never see him (or another Pokemon, really) again.

The double doors leading into the medical facilities of the Pokecenter opened mere moments later, and a Chansey guided a dry, healed, but still menacing Houndour out. His beady black eyes scanned the room before zeroing in on Tsuna, whose courage had fled. The Houndour prowled closer to Tsuna, and Tsuna backed away slowly towards the doors leading out the Pokecenter. The nurse watched in bemusement.

As the doors opened behind Tsuna, letting out a waft of cool air into the damp spring air, Tsuna turned and fled towards his bike. He nearly froze in despair when he saw that he couldn't even ride it, and that damned shipment of Antidotes was taking up his seat. He grabbed the handles and wheeled it past pedestrians, who turned and witnessed the very strange sight of a boy running with a bulky box on a bike, a black, ferocious canine on his heels.

It was while he was taking his first steps onto Route 117 that an Oddish sprang out at him, squeaking and causing Tsuna to screech and misstep. His bike fell to the side, and Tsuna tumbled ungracefully onto the metal rails of the contraption. The bruising that he surely got from the fall seemed minor, however, in the face of a seething Houndour, who pounced onto the human's chest. The Houndour levelled a glare onto the petrified human and huffed.

(The Houndour nearly snorted in amusement when he saw the terror on the young human's face. This strange human who had saved him, who had overcome his obvious fear of small, black canines and brought him back to health. No matter how pathetic this human was, and no matter how easy and hilariously fun it was to scare the living stuffing out of him, the Houndour was a prideful Pokemon, and he had a debt to pay to this human.)

"I'm sorry don't kill me I really didn't mean to hurt you or anything I just wanted to help  _don'tkillmeplease_ ," Tsuna begged, shielding his face from the Houndour. The Houndour merely stretched his mouth in a parody of a grin, all sharp small teeth and embers licking the inside of his mouth. Tsuna whimpered.

Suddenly, the small weight was gone, and Tsuna peeked from between his hands to see the Houndour sitting on the ground, looking thoroughly bored.

_So, what are you waiting for?_  the Houndour seemed to ask, yawning and showing off sharp canines.

Tsuna crept away from the menacing Pokemon and stood slowly, dragging his bike up. He took a step away, and the Houndour followed. Tsuna took another step, and the Houndour looked completely exasperated. The Pokemon huffed an ember, and Tsuna quickened his steps away from the canine dogging his footsteps. It was only when Tsuna nearly reached Verdanturf (he'd been so preoccupied with the Houndour that he hadn't noticed when nearly no Pokemon dared to come within ten meters of the human) that he resigned himself to somehow gained a tagalong. An incredibly threatening tagalong that he most decidedly did not want.

_My life_ , Tsuna despaired. Hopefully the canine would wander off by himself and leave Tsuna to his peace sometime.

* * *

"I'm so glad you finally got a Pokemon! Look at my little boy, all grown up!" Nana exclaimed, doting on the somehow innocent looking Houndour.

( _That's definitely_ not  _what it looked like earlier!_ Tsuna wanted to shout but cowered when a menacing gleam appeared in the Pokemon's eyes while Nana wasn't looking.)

"I know! We'll name you Reborn!"

Tsuna's first thought was how his mother even came up with that name. His second thought was…well, there wasn't really a thought. Just a foreboding feeling when the Houndour –  _Reborn_ – looked all too pleased with the result.

Tsuna fled the scene, locked himself in his room, and resolved never to leave the house  _ever again._


	2. Chapter 2

Life had gotten much more interesting once Reborn integrated himself into the Sawada household.

(Tsuna made conscious decisions to avoid the Houndour at all costs, to hide away from maliciously amused eyes and smirking fangs, to slip out of the room whenever Reborn made a move towards him.)

Nana, somehow, adapted quickly to having a Pokemon in the house. She'd bought snacks and treats, fed Reborn all the (intentionally) burnt scraps, and set up a corner with a small, comfortable bed. Tsuna didn't really understand how Nana reached the conclusion that the devil spawn ("Stop reading my mind, I didn't really mean that!  _Stop staring at me!_ ") was a permanent fixture now, but somehow, Reborn was officially a part of the family. Tsuna bade farewell to his terror-free days.

Despite his difficulties, though, life proceeded as normal. Tsuna woke up every morning (with Reborn standing menacingly by his bed, eyes narrowed and condescending), ate breakfast (with Reborn stealing bits of sausage and then  _daring_  Tsuna do something about it, which he didn't), worked at the Poke Mart for a bit (with Reborn surprising him whenever he turned around, knocking over the Repels he just put on the shelf, and have to restart the process), ran errands around town (with Reborn dogging his steps, no pun intended), and generally doing what he did every day before Reborn appeared.

His days passed quickly, with a hint of fire here and there, and surprisingly, Tsuna fell into the same state of content he had before the Houndour made its appearance in his life. Thus, he really should have expected the next series of events in his life. Really, he should have.

But never it be said that Tsuna never hoped for the best, and he obliviously carried on doing what he had done for the past fifteen years of his life.

* * *

"You what me to  _what_?!"

Nana hummed peacefully, checking the recent shipment of supplies that had come in. "Well, Tsu-chan, I need you to go to Mauville City again! We've got their shipment of Antidotes, so can you deliver it over there?" She gestured to a large box sitting on the counter.

Tsuna stared at it, and his heart shed sorrowful tears. Externally, he mustered a shaky smile. "Sure!"

Just as he hefted the giant box in his arms, Nana made another thoughtful noise. "Oh, and bring Reborn with you! He looks like he wants to go out to explore a bit, so go have fun! Take your time and spend some bonding time with him."

Tsuna turned his wide eyes to the Houndour, who only bared his sharp little teeth in a terrifying grin and huffed out a plume of smoke, making him look like a devil come from the deep depths of hell. Oh yes, Reborn would make  _sure_  that they would be spending some bonding time.

There was a deep, foreboding feeling in Tsuna's chest. It was well-founded.

Tsuna strapped the delivery box onto his bike again and steadied it before turning around to see Reborn sitting in the grass, yawning and pinning Tsuna with a lazy yet threatening eye.

"L-let's get going, then," Tsuna suggested. Reborn snorted, as if asking  _how dare you order me around you insignificant worm_ before turning to trot beside the bike as they headed out of Verdanturf.

They'd gotten to Mauville safely (if you considered the Houndour sitting by and laughing as a Poochyena chased Tsuna around enthusiastically) before Tsuna carried the box of Antidotes into the Poke Mart.

"Oh, it's you again. You've got the shipment, then?" the same clerk from Tsuna's last visit asked, eyebrows raised as he eyed Tsuna's disheveled appearance and the smug Houndour nipping at his heels. Tsuna let out a soul-weary sigh and plopped the box down.

"Yeah, here you go," Tsuna answered, rubbing at his aching arms. That box was  _heavy_.

"Are you done with your deliveries?" the clerk asked after a bit of rubbing and stretching on Tsuna's part. Tsuna hummed in assent. "Perfect! I need this shipment brought to Dewford Town. I was hoping I wouldn't need to ship it there, and then you showed up!"

Tsuna's straightened in alarm. "I'm not a delivery ma- ow!"

Reborn had bitten him in the leg. Hard.

The clerk furrowed his brows. "Oh, you don't deliver packages? I'd just assumed, since I've seen you twice now…"

Tsuna was quick to correct him. Or attempt to really. "No, I'm just- Reborn, that hurts, stop that!" he whined pathetically as the Houndour's little teeth dug even more into his skin. "Okay, yes, yes, I'll deliver your stuff!"

The tiny jaws clamped around his leg lessened, and Reborn growled in approval.

The clerk was just incredibly confused. "So will you deliver this package or not?"

Tsuna glanced down at Reborn, who threatened with his eyes,  _You say no, I'll run you all the way back to Verdanturf with flames licking at your heels and make your life living hell._

"I will!" Tsuna squeaked nervously, more concerned about the fact that Reborn would slit his throat in the middle of the night than the fact that  _he wasn't a deliveryman god damn it_ , and Reborn let go of his leg.

"Okay," the clerk drawled out uncertainly, looking like he was thinking twice about asking the weird kid with the weirder Houndour in front of him to deliver the package. He dug under the counter before drawing out a bag that Tsuna could fit in his backpack along with a small handful of coins and bills. "Here, the package, and here's the delivery money. It's enough, right? Because shipping is surprisingly expensive, and I'd rather avoid that and get you to do it."

Tsuna nodded frantically, stuffed the package into his backpack, much to the clerk's slightly scandalized look, and grabbed the money. "Kay, thanks bye!" Tsuna said, leaving before the clerk could give him any more things to deliver and before Reborn could threaten him into doing any more unnecessary things. And to get away from Reborn like he'd been trying to do for the past few weeks, but that was a quest doomed from the start.

When he reached his bike, he whirled around, pinned Reborn with a despairing look (the Pokemon looked incredibly smug) and asked hysterically, "Was that necessary? Why?"

Reborn merely laughed and started trotting towards Route 110. He cocked his head when Tsuna didn't follow and raised his black circle eyebrow thing expectantly (Tsuna wasn't quite sure what it was, but he figured that if Reborn really did have eyebrows, they'd add another aspect to Reborn's already sadistic personality).

 _Go have fun_ , Tsuna mocked his mom unhappily.  _Take your time and spend bonding time with him, she said. Yeah, we're gonna be spending a lot of time together_ now.

Reborn gave a cackling noise not unlike a Mightyena's terrifying laugh, and Tsuna was convinced that Reborn was born the wrong Pokemon. Wait, no, Reborn was  _exactly_ the right Pokemon.

Definitely a hound from hell.

* * *

"I'm going on the Cycling Road, Reborn!"

The Houndour might have been pushing him around until now, but Tsuna was not,  _not_ , biking through the lower path where anything could attack them. Especially since there could be Wingull flying around, and Tsuna might not have known a lot about Pokemon, but he knew for a fact, from Reborn's horrifying displays of his prowess with spitting Embers, that Houndour were fire Pokemon, and Wingull were water, and water beat fire. And as worried as he was about his own safety when the Houndour inevitably went down in a fight against a water-type and he was left useless with only his bike, backpack, and truthfully useless arms and legs as defense, he was even more worried about Reborn. Somewhere deep, deep inside, in the depths of his being  _somewhere_ , he was sure, Reborn cared about him (Tsuna refused to believe he was delusional), and Tsuna cared about Reborn, as terrifying as the Pokemon was, and he was not going to show up in Slateport City mauled to death.

So. Tsuna was not travelling the lower path. He was going via Cycling Road, and nothing Reborn had to say about that was going to change his mind.

But Reborn was displaying his sharp canines and huffing fire out his mouth and it was terrifying and-  _no, Tsuna was riding his bike through the Cycling Road and that was that, dammit._

Reborn sighed, which caused the embers in his mouth to blow out slightly ("Reborn, be careful,  _don't burn me please_!") before relenting grudgingly.  _Baby steps_ , the Houndour thought sullenly. He couldn't push his human too fast.  _But later…_

Tsuna fought a shiver that went down his spine and entered the entrance to the Cycling Road. As he paused at the counter, he blinked and realized that there was a problem.

Reborn didn't have a Pokeball.

Well, this was awkward.

"Reborn," Tsuna gulped pathetically at the Houndour, who merely gazed apathetically at the helpless and hapless human in front of him. "You're going to have to ride on my bike. They don't allow stray Pokemon on the Road."

The Houndour looked entirely unimpressed. Tsuna paused. His bike didn't have a basket Reborn could ride in, so the only option was…

"Can you…ride on my shoulder? Or back?" Tsuna asked haltingly. He held out his arms, hoping against all past evidence that Reborn wouldn't injure him somehow during this whole process. It turned out that past evidence trumped Tsuna's wishes, and by the time Reborn's back paws were balanced on the bicycle seat and front paws were digging painfully into Tsuna's shoulders, Tsuna had claw marks to prove that Reborn's bite was much,  _much_ worse than his bark. Not that Reborn usually barked. No, the noises that escaped from his maw were usually sounds of amusement at Tsuna's expense.

The woman standing at the counter eyed the Pokemon-human duo mistrustfully. Tsuna merely smiled back painfully and pedaled out the building.

* * *

It turned out that, even if Reborn didn't have a Pokeball, he was still mistaken for being Tsuna's Pokemon. And when a person was found to have a Pokemon, he or she was usually asked to a battle by other people with Pokemon.

Unfortunately, Tsuna was most definitely  _not_ a trainer. Didn't stop the battle challenges.

"Hey, can we have a battle?" a Triathlete asked, but Tsuna merely shook his head frantically.

"Sorry, he's not mine!" Tsuna replied and winced when Reborn's hot breath washed over his neck. He was surprised he hadn't smelt burning hair yet.

"Oh…well, okay then."

He went through conversations similar to this until the end of the Road was in sight. Unfortunately, there was another Triathlete, who grinned and stopped right in front of Tsuna, forcing the teen to stop as well.

"Hey, wanna battle?" the trainer asked, bouncing a Pokeball in her hand.

"N-" Tsuna stared before he felt the warm presence behind him disappear and a little black hound trotting to stand in front of his bike. "Reborn!"

"Perfect! Alright, prepare to face my Magnemite!" the trainer said excitedly and threw the Pokeball in front of her. A Magnemite appeared, and it screeched upon seeing the Houndour. It sparked before shooting lightning towards Reborn.

Tsuna's breath caught in his throat as the situation slipped out of his hands and into the lands of uncontrollable. Fortunately, Reborn knew to dodge and blew an Ember right into the Magnemite's face. The fire caught the Magnemite's side, and it cried in panic before sparking all over its body. It shot a Sonic Boom at Reborn. The Houndour managed to escape the blunt of the attack before fire coated his fangs, and he leapt at the enemy. More fire flashed, and Tsuna clenched his eyes shut, hoping to whatever deity was out there that Reborn wouldn't faint, and nearly had a heart attack when he heard the sound of metal on metal screeching through the air. The battle was over before Tsuna even knew what happened.

"Well, congratulations, kid," the Triathlete said, bemused that the trainer in front of her didn't seem to command his Pokemon at all. "Huh, I guess I underestimated you."

And with his wallet heavier and claws digging into his shoulders again, Tsuna decided that if Reborn was officially a devil sent to make his life hell.

Tsuna sped out of the Cycling Road with something akin to the taste of freedom on his tongue and made it to Slateport without further incident. Reborn was smug the whole way, the bastard.

* * *

It turned out that there was a boat leaving for Dewford that very evening and would reach the small town the next morning. Tsuna mulled over the aspect of perhaps just waiting for the next ship because he'd had enough stress for the day, thank you very much, but no, of course, Reborn merely turned a beady eye on the brunet and Tsuna decided that,  _yes_ , he'll go tonight and get this hellish nightmare over with, please.

As he trudged through sand to get to the ship that was commandeered by a man named Mr. Briney, he discovered many things.

One, he loved the beach. The warm sand beneath his toes after he took off his shoes, the bright blue sky above him with the sun shining merrily down on the waves of golden sand, the soft lull of the ocean crashing against the shore, and the soft cries of Wingull and Pelipper made him think he should shed his human skin, spread his wings, and  _fly_. It was amazing. Tsuna could wax poetry to the beach all day.

Second, Reborn  _hated_  the beach. And large bodies of water in general. The Pokemon was more Krabby-like than usual, snarling and bristling whenever a spray of water reached his pitch dark coat.

Tsuna reveled in the irony that Reborn was the one who had made him accept this errand, and now, it was  _payback time_.

Or not so much, he discovered when Reborn practically corralled him onto the boat and glared mulishly at the ocean when the ship set sail. If Reborn had to suffer the ocean, then apparently Tsuna had to suffer the Houndour's ire as well.

Tsuna settled down in his room and sighed through his nose when the Houndour settled on the foot of his bead, gave him a look that said  _if you dare kick me in your sleep you're going to regret it for the rest of your life_ , and promptly fell asleep, beady eyes still open (who  _does_  that, that was creepy as fuck) and comical bubble blowing from his nose.

Needless to say, Tsuna slept restlessly for the rest of the night, feet drawn up and arms pulling at his knees in an attempt to not disturb Reborn at all.

Thus, when they reached shore the next day, Reborn was very well rested, and Tsuna was not. Tsuna couldn't  _wait_  for this adventure to be over.

But his adventure was far from over, he would discover later, and in fact, had only just begun.


	3. Chapter 3

"So you're the delivery boy that I should be expecting?" the clerk, a female in her early twenties, of the Poke Mart in Dewford Town asked when Tsuna staggered into the building, exhausted and weary from the night at sea. Reborn was perfectly refreshed, which Tsuna greatly resented.

"Yeah. Here's the package," Tsuna answered, digging around his backpack and flailing slightly before wrestling the package from under a spare change of clothes ( _"For your adventure, Tsu-chan! If you're going to spend more than a day out, make sure you change your underwear!"_ ) and then handing the rumpled package to the clerk. She was distinctly unimpressed with the package's appearance before shrugging and tossing it into the corner. There was a small  _crack_ in the package's general direction, and Tsuna blanched.

"Cool. Hey, look, I need you to deliver a package to some guy in Granite Cave, um, what was his name…" the clerk mumbled, digging around in a draw before making a triumphant noise. She held the letter in front of Tsuna demandingly, waving it aggressively when he didn't' take it, and began rambling, "Here, this guy, Byakuran. Kinda cute, white hair and this weird tattoo under his eye, but pretty adorable nonetheless. Obsessed with rocks for some reason. Not as cute as Brawly, who's  _adorable_ and really  _hot_ , but that's not the point. He's spent the last couple of days in there, and we can't get the letter to him. You're a trainer, though, right?"

"A-actually, no, I'm no-"

"Perfect, your Houndour looks strong. Shouldn't be too much of a problem, even if the Pokemon in there have a type advantage," the clerk continued, ignoring Tsuna's increasingly feeble protests.

At Reborn's sharp look, Tsuna sighed and took the letter. He tucked it into his backpack and glanced down at the Houndour, who raised its strange white dot eyebrow again and jerked his head towards the entrance. This was Tsuna's life, apparently.

"Oh, here, I don't have much money on me, but have some Pokeballs as thanks," the clerk said, grabbing several minimized Pokeballs and shoving them into Tsuna's hands as well before winking. "They're from the store, but nobody'll really know." Tsuna stared at them like they were a bunch of Spinaraks, poisonous and poised to strike him and bring him to his knees and  _cry_. As far as he was concerned, they were. Tools of destruction and things that definitely did not belong in his hands.

"I don't-" he began, trying to give them back, but the clerk only came around the counter and began pushing him out the door.

"Don't be modest, they're your payment. Thanks, dude!" the clerk shouted before the automatic doors slid shut in his petrified, utterly devastated face.

Reborn huffed a sadistic laugh while Tsuna sank into the sand and wished that some hole would just open up below him and swallow him whole. He mercilessly stomped over the fallen human and headed north, towards where Granite Cave was supposedly. The poor useless human would catch up sometime.

* * *

"It's  _dark_  in there, Reborn, I really don't think this is a good idea…" Tsuna whispered (but his whisper really wasn't a whisper, unbeknownst to him, and several Zubat squeaked in annoyance). "I'll probably trip over some Geodude and die, and you wouldn't want that, would you?" he pleaded.

The Houndour's silence told Tsuna exactly what he thought about that question. And the answer was definitely not  _no, I would never want you to harm yourself._  Sadistic hound.

"Reborn, I really…!"

Having had enough of his shenanigans, the Houndour growled, low and menacing, and Tsuna abruptly changed his mind. The cave was the lesser of two evils. Anything could be the lesser of two evils when compared to Reborn.

Tsuna abruptly found himself in a dark cave. And by dark, he meant if it weren't for Reborn's occasional spouts of Embers that kept only the space around them lit, he would have found himself face to face with a wall multiple times. And even then, he nearly found himself becoming more intimate than he ever wanted with a rocky surface.

The going was slow. Painfully slow. There were ledges over which Tsuna found himself continuously tripping down (he'll have seriously scraped knees after this), ladders that he kept clipping his shoulders on, and, like he'd predicted, Geodudes and Arons that he kept tripping over. Fortunately, most of the Pokemon he disturbed were either forgiving of the poor, hapless human stumbling through the cave or were too scared of the rather threatening hellhound by his side. For once, Tsuna was grateful for Reborn's presence.

Unfortunately, 'most Pokemon' did not seem to include one incredibly ferocious, livid Aron.

Honestly, Tsuna was  _planning_  to step around the small metal Pokemon, he really was, but then Reborn had made a sudden movement, a Zubat had swept towards his head, and Tsuna panicked, okay, it wasn't intentional! But somehow, he'd kicked at the Aron, and the Aron had taken offense. Personally, Tsuna thought his sore, throbbing toe was enough revenge, but the Aron didn't agree.

" _Aron!_ " the small Pokemon screeched angrily. It pawed at the ground and, in a movement that was surprisingly deft for such a small Pokemon, threw a glob of mud straight at Tsuna's face. He yelped and leapt to the side. His shoulder collided painfully with a wall, and he winced in pain.

Reborn, meanwhile, had spat a lazy Ember at the metal Pokemon. The Aron winced but shook off the fire, and it looked even more furious. Seeing that his attack hadn't made much of a difference, the Houndour yawned before sitting on his haunches. He kept a steady stream of flame out of his mouth, but otherwise, Tsuna figured that he wasn't going to be much help anymore.

The Aron lowered its head menacingly before rushing towards Tsuna. He tried dodging again, and the Aron rammed into the rock wall. A small web of cracks appeared from the impact point, and the Aron turned again.

This process repeated several times. Dodge, Tackle, dodge, Mud Slap, dodge, panicked scream, Tackle. Echoes of metal against rock sounded throughout the cavern as the Aron kept slamming into the wall, and yelps and screams emanated from the brunet.

"Look, can we talk this out, it was an accident!" Tsuna cried, panting and resting his back against the wall of the cave, a rocky edge digging into his back. He planted his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath, eyes tracking the still irate Aron. The small metal Pokemon pawed at the ground with its stubby feet, a sight that would have been adorable were it not for the fact that  _a Pokemon made of metal was determined to rip his throat out_.

He really just wanted to catch a break. Was that so hard to ask? Apparently so.

Preparing for another Tackle, the Aron rushed forward. Tsuna dodged, performing a feat of miraculous evasion and jumping over the rampaging Pokemon. With an unnaturally loud crack, the Aron bashed its head into the wall. The web of cracks finally gave an ominous sound, and parts of the wall started crumbling down. Small, then larger rocks began raining down on the Pokemon.

Tsuna whipped around at the noise and the ensuing sound of distress from the Aron as a particularly large rock hurtled towards it. Gasping, Tsuna changed trajectories and dove for the Aron. He slammed into the small metal Pokemon, dragging it out from under the rocks. His should throbbed when it'd slammed into the surprisingly heavy Pokemon, and his fingers latched onto the smooth, cool body and lugged it away from the crumbling wall.

Finally, the cave stopped trying to kill them, and Tsuna coughed, waving his hand to try to clear the dust obscuring his vision. He realized belatedly when the dust cleared that the Aron that was trying to kill him before had its eyes fixed on him. Tsuna gulped.

The most uncomfortable staring contest between a Pokemon and a human ensued. Reborn licked his paws idly, cocking his head in interest at the human and Aron before snorting and spitting fire at the rocks to warm them. If this was going to take a while, he might as well get comfortable.

"Aron!" the small metal Pokemon squeaked before launching itself at Tsuna. He screamed and held his hands in front of his face in fear. The Aron barreled into his stomach, and he went flying backwards.

When Tsuna found himself lying on his back, staring at the ceiling of the cave, the Aron was nuzzling into his cheek. It made cooing and chirping sounds, eerie blue eyes gazing at him in adoration and hero worship.

Tsuna was sure this was some kind of ploy. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to witness his untimely demise. The Aron would most likely try to kill him any moment now.

Any moment now.

…sometime soon.

After cringing for a good five minutes with nothing to interrupt them other than Reborn's increasingly huffy protests and flames, Tsuna cracked an eye open to see the Aron still rubbing its head into his cheek. He was going to have metal burn on that cheek for a while now and look utterly ridiculous.

"Um…" he said, voice slightly hoarse from fear and adrenaline. The Aron lifted his head, and now Tsuna was positive it was  _sparkling_  at him.

"Aron!" it exclaimed happily.

And that was how Tsuna earned himself a puppy in the form of an iron Pokemon.

* * *

When Tsuna finally found himself in a well-lit cave, he gasped for air and thanked the gods for light like a dying man in the middle of the desert catching his first sight of water. Light was wonderful, he was never, ever going into another cave again. Between stampeding Arons and sadistic Houndours, Tsuna wasn't sure he'd survive another trip through that cave.

At the other side of the cavern, he saw a white haired man staring down at a rock like it was the most interesting and revelatory thing he'd seen since grilled cheese.

"U-um, excuse me, but are you Byakuran?" he called out, and the man turned. True to the clerk's words, the man had three weird purple triangles under his left eye. Weird fashion choice, but hey, Tsuna wasn't there to judge how another person decided to look. Rather, he was here to deliver a letter, after which he'd get the hell out of Dewford and never look backwards again.

"I am! Who're you?" Byakuran asked cheerfully before returning his attention back towards the rock. Tsuna felt somewhat offended that a rock was more fascinating than he was, but he shrugged off the light offence.

"I have a letter for you." He waved his letter around before approaching the crouching man. Byakuran held out his hand without even looking away from the rock (rude!) and tucked it into his pocket.

Tsuna paused, not sure if he had to do anything else. Reborn yawned pointedly, and the Aron (whom Tsuna decided to call Gokudera, because hey, why not, nobody said Tsuna was good at naming anyways) just glowered at the other man hostilely.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'm just going to go now," Tsuna said to Byakuran, but he might as well have been talking to the air for all it mattered. Other than the initial glance, Byakuran hadn't turned to look at Tsuna even once.

As Tsuna was about to leave the cavern, his footsteps echoing around the chamber, Byakuran called out.

"Wait."

Tsuna turned his head suspiciously. He swore, if this was another…

"You're a trainer, aren't you?" the white haired man asked, and Tsuna shook his head vehemently.

"I'm not! I'm-"

And it really was misfortune that Reborn was one persistent and wily bugger, because he just seemed to insist on sending Tsuna out on dangerous missions, and the Houndour knew that if Tsuna admitted to being a trainer, there'd be even more dangerous missions.

So very stealthily, Reborn placed his paw on Tsuna's shoe and looked up with threatening eyes.

 _You will say yes, and you will do it with a smile_.

So that's exactly what Tsuna did.

"I am a trainer," Tsuna quickly cut off his previous statement and hung his head. Last time he checked, the trainers were supposed to control the Pokemon, not the other way around.

Byakuran abruptly stood up and turned around, clapping his hands. When Tsuna glanced behind him, he noticed something very suspicious indeed.

There was a bag of multicolored marshmallows on the ground. This bag of marshmallows were sitting right beside the rock. There were only white marshmallows in Byakuran's hand.

Everything clicked in his head.

Byakuran had been staring at the bag of marshmallows. So he could pick out the white ones to eat.

Tsuna had been ignored for a bag of  _marshmallows_.

It was official. Tsuna was less interesting than food that was mostly comprised of air. His life was less meaningful than air.

So preoccupied with his thoughts, Tsuna didn't notice when Byakuran shoved a Pokeball into his face. Tsuna yelped and stumbled backwards over Gokudera (not for the first time) and nearly landed on his butt in surprise.

"I need this delivered Pokemon delivered to Professor Rowan in Sinnoh. I'm from there myself, but I can't go back just yet. I've got a bit of business left in this cave," Byakuran explained, glancing not-so-surreptitiously back at the bag of mashmallows.  _Bullshit_ , Tsuna thought. "I'm sure you'll agree, since there's a bunch of Pokemon from there not available readily here in Hoenn. It's a good experience for a trainer."

Byakuran insistently pushed the Pokemon into Tsuna's hands. Tsuna took it with a wail of despair and a farewell towards any peaceful life he would have returned to after this. Reborn just looked smug, and Gokudera's eyes hadn't stopped shining since he'd started following the brunet around.

"Thanks! Don't dawdle too long, the Pokemon in that Pokeball is dangerous. Don't let it out! If so, it'll haunt you for the rest of your life, okay?" Byakuran advised, and his purple eyes flashed seriously before he closed them and popped a marshmallow into his mouth. With a whistle, Byakuran turned around and went back to studying his rocks (marshmallows, he was studying  _marshmallows_ ).

Tsuna was left staring down at the Pokeball with abject horror and a sinking feeling. He minimized it and thrust it into the backpack.

And so, without Tsuna's permission, his litter entourage of Pokemon grew. He debated the pros of using a Pokeball but then decided not to. If there was one thing Tsuna valued, it was freedom, and if he was a Pokemon, he wouldn't enjoy being trapped in a small Pokeball all day either.

But he still wasn't letting out that mysterious Pokemon. No way. His intuition told him not to, and Tsuna valued his intuition.

And so, with his backpack several Pokeballs heavier (one of which held an actual Pokemon), Tsuna headed back out of Granite Cave and hoped to never return.

* * *

It was just his luck, really, that what awaited him outside of the cave was a squirt of water.

Tsuna spluttered, shirt wet and trying to blink salt water out of his face. His eyes stung, and several tears rolled down his face in an attempt to lessen the pain. Now he was wet from the surprise attack, dusty from his adventure in the cave, as well as scraped from his little confrontation with Gokudera. Who was still following him.

Tsuna whipped his head around to identify the attacker. And there, sitting innocently in the water, was a Horsea.

 _Well_ , Tsuna thought, trying to grasp at the silver lining,  _at least it wasn't ink_.

The next squirt of liquid was pitch black and stained him head to toe. Tsuna gasped as the cold liquid dripped down his shirt. He attempted to wipe it away to no avail.

Gokudera growled angrily like some little offended Spearow instead of the steadfast, calm Aron he was supposed to be, and Reborn looked on with amusement. That is, until another squirt of water was aimed at him. He leapt aside, snarling lightly with threatening smoke drifting from his nostrils. The water landed on Gokudera instead, who gave a weak little shiver.

Tsuna was done.  _He was so done_.

"Alright, you little  _shrimp_. I don't care if you squirt water at me, but Gokudera and Reborn here are  _weak_  to water," Tsuna snapped, advancing on the Horsea. He disregarded the salt water that started soaking his shoes when he'd advanced past the shoreline. "I'm going to have to ask you to stop, because that's mean."

And after his (admittedly pretty pathetic) threatening speech, the Horsea regarded him with serious eyes. It tilted its head back and forth before, with wide eyes, it gave a cheerful "Horsea" before  _leaping_  out of the water and into Tsuna's arms.

Tsuna shrieked and dove for cover. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that he was standing shin-deep in cold seawater, so when he dropped the Horsea as well as his whole body from Pokemon determined to maul him (why,  _why_ where Pokemon all trying to kill him today?!), he made a rather fantastic splash.

Now there was a Horsea attacking him,  _and_ his clothes were wet. Worst. Day. Ever.

The Horsea gave a squeal and jumped at Tsuna again, and this time, the brunet was prepared. He caught the scaly, somewhat slimy Pokemon and lugged the surprisingly heavy Pokemon onto the shore. He disregarded the hiccupping spurts of flame that usually accompanied Reborn's version of mocking laughter and Gokudera's death rays aimed at the now content Horsea.

He was raising the white flag and waving it. He threw up his hands. He surrendered.

He would  _not_  have any more Pokemon thrust upon him today. He was going to take this public menace, present it to the Poke Center, and never look back at this town again.


	4. Chapter 4

When Tsuna finally arrived at the Poke Center, panting and sweating and generally dying because hot damn that Horsea was heavy, he dumped the cheerful thing on the desk in front of a befuddled nurse.

"This thing is menacing passerby," Tsuna said. He nudged the Horsea forwards.

The nurse's eyebrow rose as she looked down at the happily squealing Pokemon. She then shifted her gaze behind Tsuna, where Reborn was sitting smugly as if reveling in Tsuna's misfortune and Gokudera was growling at the Horsea in a low, long " _aroooooooooon"_. She then returned her gaze expectantly to Tsuna.

"You have a lot of Pokemon that seem to hang onto you. Why aren't they in their Pokeballs?" she asked.

Tsuna was just about fit to rip his hair out. "They aren't  _my Pokemon_. They just follow me around!"

The nurse shook her head condescendingly. "If they follow you around, they're your Pokemon, and so they really should be in Pokeballs. At least make sure they're properly taken care of! Honestly, youth these days."

The nurse stuck her stethoscope in her ears and listened calmly to the excited Horsea. After a brief but thorough check, she deemed it healthy and demandingly gestured at Reborn and Gokudera. Tsuna groaned as he hefted the Horsea into his arms again and wondered, somewhat uncharitably, whether Horsea were supposed to be the weight of a bowling ball. Maybe it was just a very fat Horsea. He debated throwing it onto the floor, just to be done with this whole thing, but after glancing at sparkling, dark eyes and unnatural ( _creepy_ ) good cheer, decided that he really didn't want to risk another soaking session.

Reborn hopped up primly and gave a doggy grin at the nurse, who cooed and talking about how "really, Houndours are so misunderstood" and "he really should treat you better" and "you're better off with another trainer." Reborn shot a sly, taunting look over his shoulder. Tsuna mentally screamed.

 _"Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr…."_ Gokudera was still growling menacingly. " _...oooooooooooooonnnnnnnn."_

The nurse peered tentatively over the hostile Pokemon, and with a distinct air of definitely-not-touching-that, said, "Well, all of your Pokemon check out fine. They'll be good to go."

"You don't have a Pokemon boarding program? Something to keep Pokemon long term? Adoption?" Tsuna asked pleadingly. The nurse looked scandalized.

"You want to  _abandon your Pokemon?_ " she hissed. "Young man, I don't  _care_ about your problems, but you need to learn that once you take responsibility of a Pokemon, they are dependent on you, and you're not allowed to just…throw them by the wayside! We're not Daycare Center!"

Reborn was all too amused by the situation.

"That's not what I meant!" Tsuna said hastily, intimidated by the nurse's wrath. "Like, I don't want to  _abandon_ it, but it was attacking passerby! I couldn't let it just…lob Water Guns at people!"

"What a good Samaritan," the nurse said drily. "Well, you'll just have to let it go if you don't want it."

Tsuna thought that rather defeated the point of moving the menace away from innocent people, but after a glance at Reborn, who was steadily growing more and more impatient (and Rayquaza knew  _what_ would happen when the Houndour reached the limit of his patience) and a still growling Gokudera (did Aron even need to breath?) and a grinning Horsea (who seemed to just know it was about to get away with everything wrong it just did), Tsuna sighed resignedly. He seemed to be giving in a lot these days.

 _It all started with Reborn_ , Tsuna thought darkly.

"I'll release it," Tsuna finally said. He proceeded to try to get a better grip on the slimy Pokemon so that it didn't slip out of his arms and marched with as much dignity as he could out the door.

It wasn't much, considering he was still soaking wet, Reborn was mocking him behind his back with huffs of smoke, and Gokudera was gazing with truly troubling adoration at him.

He managed to make it to the sea short without much more trouble other than a couple of quizzical glances from the locals.

"Alright," Tsuna said as he reached the water and turned the water Pokemon so that it was facing him. "Here you go. Home free. I'll forgive you this time, but  _don't do it again_."

The Horsea shamelessly blinked its large eyes as if to say  _who, me? Never._

Tsuna dunked it unceremoniously into the water. He turned and slung off his backpack onto dry land so that it didn't get completely wet before wading into the water to wash the slime off his skin. Might as well, since he was already covered in seasalt and slime.

Reborn barked, and there was an enraged squeal that sounded like metal screeching against metal that was undoubtedly from Gokudera.

Tsuna turned suspiciously to Reborn, who was nonchalantly gazing at the sky. Tsuna didn't trust that gaze one bit. Gokudera was glaring with the fury of a hundred suns at Tsuna's backpack, where a single Pokeball had tumbled out. He seemed to be trying to land a Hyper Beam on the ball, but fortunately for Tsuna, that move wasn't in an Aron's moveset.

 _And I have to deal with this all the way to Sinnoh_ , Tsuna despaired. He wondered if he could try to lose either of them but quickly lost heart at that idea. Gokudera seemed a little too attached to him.  _Steel Pokemon aren't supposed to act like puppies_ , he thought weakly and felt his will cave beneath the pressure of two small Pokemon.

He turned to give his arms another quick wash and looked for the Horsea. It was gone, presumably to terrorize some other poor trainer. Thank Kyogre for that.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

"What do you mean you have to stop by Route 104 before returning to Slateport?" Tsuna asked in dismay. He was pretty sure everything was Reborn's fault, even though he couldn't put a finger on the connection just yet.

"I usually stop by Route 104. It's where I live with Peeko, y'see, and it's good to check up on that side of Hoenn for any more passengers," Mr. Briney said good-naturedly. "Of course, I completely understand if you want to stay here and wait for me to get back before we head back to Slateport."

"It's fine, I'll wait for you here." Tsuna turned to find somewhere to stay for the night, but there, in the middle of the dock, stood Reborn, a small, dark, very menacing canine with all the threatening demeanor of a Sharpedo ready to rip his head off. And no, Tsuna was not being dramatic.

Reborn only grinned, deliberately darted his gaze to the boat, and breathed out a stream of fire. Tsuna liked to think he was perceptive enough to read the underlying threat. Gokudera was being an utterly useless hunk of metal and seemed all too eager to follow Tsuna for the rest of his miserable life.

"On second thought, I think I'll go with you," Tsuna amended quickly.

"Excellent!"

And back onto the boat they went.

* * *

Tsuna didn't think the one night trip aboard the small fishing boat would have been a big problem. As usual, destiny didn't seem to care about what Tsuna thought and proceeded to shit all over the voyage.

"No, stop, you're  _heavy_ ," Tsuna wheezed pathetically as Gokudera proceeded to make the most of the teen's flabby stomach and plop over it like it was the most comfortable pillow he'd ever laid head on. On second thought, that was probably true, since Gokudera had been living in a cave the whole time. Caves didn't have pillows. Tsuna's complaints shriveled on his lips. Maybe, just  _maybe_ , he could let Gokudera sleep on him. Just once.

(Little did Tsuna know, but once would become twice, and twice would become three times, and Tsuna soon would learn to regret giving in so easily to Gokudera's pleading looks, even though Aron had almost no facial features to speak of to convey said pleading looks. He would regret it even more when Gokudera turned into a giant, metal monster but still insisted on treating Tsuna's poor, fragile body like a stuffed animal.)

It also didn't help that the swaying of the ocean had put Reborn on edge. The Houndour was snappy and irritable, and no matter how many PokeBlocks Tsuna tentatively nudged his way, the hellhound remained temperamental. He'd even singed Tsuna's fingers once! Tsuna made a mental note to look up seasickness medicine for the next time he set out with Reborn.

Tsuna realized that he was already making future plans with the two Pokemon and quickly tried to erase all of them. It didn't work.

A particularly shocking jolt of the boat made Reborn growl with particular viciousness, and Tsuna groaned when Gokudera accidentally pressed against his bladder. On the floor, Tsuna's backpack tipped over, spilling Pokeballs onto the floor.

There was a blinding flash of light.

"Horsea!"

Tsuna was pretty sure he was hallucinating. Maybe Reborn had finally ended his miserable life. Maybe Gokudera had crushed Tsuna's rib cage with his weight.

For there was no good reason for the Horsea Tsuna had  _deliberately left behind_  to be propped against the wall of his cabin, looking up with guileless happiness.

"W-what," Tsuna croaked.

The Horsea proceeded to soak his bedsheets. Gokudera howled and pounced on the Horsea with a nimble leap that an Aron had no right in having. The Horsea squealed in delight and splurted salt water back. There proceeded to be a tussle.

Tsuna found the opened Pokeball that the Horsea presumably come out of and recalled the Horsea back so that it didn't cause any more trouble. Gokudera shook his head, disgruntled. Reborn huffed out a lick of flame.

"Glad I could be of entertainment," Tsuna said drily. Reborn, at least, was distracted from the swaying of the boat momentarily.

Tsuna turned back to the Pokeball that held the Horsea and held it as far away from his body as possible with the tips of his fingers. He placed it carefully back in his backpack like it was a Voltorb about to explode, and after a quick moment of contemplation, wedged the backpack between his bed and the wall so that it didn't spill again.

Suddenly, Gokudera's earlier hostile actions against Tsuna's backpack and Reborn's deliberate nonchalance made a lot more sense.

 _That sneaky little shrimp!_ The Horsea had snuck into his backpack!

A pause.

_Oh god he officially, actually owned a Pokemon._

Tsuna tried to raise a proper amount of indignation, but after a couple of seconds, he deflated like a sad Drifloon and collapsed onto the bed. He could deal with everything in the morning.

* * *

He emerged from the ship to the searing light of the morning sun and the dulcet tones of screeching Wingull.

"Mornin'! I'll be sticking around for the rest of the day and leaving around nightfall, so go and explore like you trainers tend to do," Mr. Briney greeted. "Petalburg Woods is right up ahead, but if you're lookin' to get some shopping done, Petalburg City is to the east."

Tsuna rubbed at the bags under his eyes. "Thanks, Mr. Briney."

All Tsuna  _really_ wanted to do was sit on the beach and hope his skin didn't burn off, but he really, really should have known better. Reborn tended to upset his plans. Gokudera was rolling around in the grass curiously, like he'd never encountered it before. That was, Tsuna mused, actually, probably depressingly true. Reborn only looked all too happy to be back on solid, dry land. The hellhound already looked like it was ready to spring off into the woods Tsuna could see in the distance.

"Now hold on-" Tsuna warned, but much to his chagrin, Reborn went sprinting off to the edge of the trees, Gokudera teetering behind at a slower but just as enthusiastic pace. Tsuna debated letting them go and finally having a moment of peace to himself, but Reborn promptly burned a poor Wurmple with sadistic glee and Tsuna grimly resigned himself to making sure Reborn didn't cause too much damage to the forest's poor inhabitants.

Petalburg Woods was dark and quiet. As much as Tsuna enjoyed the sounds of the ocean and sand beneath his feet, there was a certain charm to the tranquility that laid over the woods like a blanket, only broken by the occasional twitters of a Taillow and rustling of a Wurmple. The air was crisp and clean, the kind that was so intertwined with nature that every breath reminded Tsuna of wood and soil. Tsuna closed his eyes and breathed in deep. There was a smell of earth and growing things, of decaying leaves and the new life that arose from them.

Tsuna's shoulders relaxed. Even Reborn and Gokudera seemed more subdued here, appreciative of the shade the trees gave them. Tsuna idly wondered if the Horsea ( _Yamamoto_ , a part of his mind whispered, and Tsuna adopted the name without a thought) would enjoy the forest. Even if there were no large bodies of water nearby, Tsuna wouldn't mind carrying the water Pokemon in his arms. Despite their rough first encounter, Tsuna was feeling forgiving enough to let Yamamoto out of his Pokeball.

Plus, nothing was trying to rip his hair or throat out yet, and all the local fauna didn't seem to want to cause Tsuna any harm. Tsuna always counted that as a win.

The peace was shattered.

"-think you're doing? That Pokemon's better off in our hands!"

"P-Please, n-n-no, don't take h-him!"

"Hah, this Zigzagoon's better off in our hands! A puny little trainer like you doesn't deserve Pokemon!"

There was a growl, a squeak of fear, and then the faint sounds of crying.

Now, Tsuna was no stranger to bullying. He'd been bullied since he was a little kid, called 'Dame-Tsuna' by all the kids who were setting out on their own Pokemon adventure at 11 years. He'd been pushed, pulled, and stepped on, but he liked to think that, since starting on his own small adventure, he'd grown a backbone.

"H-hey! Stop t-that!" Tsuna yelled as he caught a glimpse of an odd man in a blue uniform and a wailing little boy sat on the ground. "L-leave him alone!"

The man turned, sneering at Tsuna. His eyes fell on Reborn, who, despite apparent boredom, was bristling and Gokudera, who was emitting that same, low screeching growl.

"What have we here? A brat who thinks he's a trainer?" The man advanced on Tsuna, the other kid and his poor Zigzagoon huddled on the ground. All of Tsuna's previous bravado promptly fled without even a wave farewell. Oh, look, there went his spine.

"N-no, of course n-not, I just w-wanted to as-as-ask you the directions to…" Tsuna cringed, eyes darting to Reborn in help. The Houndour only yawned pointedly, but he kept a sharp eye on the man. "…Petalburg City?"

The man blinked at Tsuna's incredibly dumb question. "You came from the direction of Petalburg City."

Tsuna floundered.

"So where'd you get an Aron and some foreign Pokemon, eh?" the man loomed. Gokudera growled and, without warning, used Headbutt on the man's shins. Tsuna had a zero amount of sympathy for the man. "What the – call off your Pokemon, you crazy kid! Pokemon aren't supposed to attack people!"

Tsuna grinned and said, with as much of a straight face as he could, "Sorry, these aren't my Pokemon." A vindictive pleasure curled in his chest.

Reborn also pounced, smoke and fire crawling out of his mouth in a stream, and hovered menacingly over the fallen man. Tsuna didn't bother calling them off.

"Run, kid," Tsuna advised the boy. Just because he was slowly acclimating to the chaos that was a byproduct of Reborn's presence didn't mean the traumatized kid had to witness the sobbing puddle of man that the Pokemon were reducing him to.

The boy took his advice and skedaddled.

Tsuna briefly wondered whether he needed to interfere, but one look at the fanatical pleasure with which Gokudera was pummeling the man and sadistic amusement Reborn was threating him with, he backed off very slowly. There was no need, really.

A rustle in the grass was the only warning before a round, pink and green ball wearing a skirt crashed into the man's face and sprinkled a yellow powder into the man's face. The man's limbs locked, and he fell still within the space of a second.

Tsuna stared at the newcomer. It stared back, a furrowed line above its eyes and a permanently downturned mouth stuck on its face. A Shroomish, Tsuna vaguely recalled. He slowly backed away.

"Sorry, is this your territory? I'll just leave now," Tsuna muttered and edged away slowly from both Pokemon and paralyzed man. The Shroomish took a step in Tsuna's direction with its stubby legs, and its scowl deepened.

"You can't follow me!"

The little frown on the Shroomish's face didn't budge. It seemed strangely fixed on the mushroom Pokemon's face.

"…right," Tsuna muttered. He tried convincing himself that he wasn't crazy, not at all, for talking to the grumpy little pink and green Pokemon and hoping it would respond in intelligible human words. "Well, thanks for the help, I guess."

Tsuna turned and decided that yes, that was enough adventure for the day. He was going to return to Mr. Briney's boat  _right now_ and never step another foot in these woods again.

As he single-mindedly made his way back in the direction of the ocean, he noticed something odd, and with a sinking feeling of dread, he turned to see the Shroomish still following him.

"Mish," it muttered, bouncing around on its stubby little legs as if it were excited for something even though its facial expressions gave nothing away other than disgruntlement. "Shroom! Mish!"

"No, you can't come with me!" Tsuna answered. The Shroomish looked pointedly at Reborn and Gokudera. "They aren't my Pokemon!" This was probably the hundredth time he'd said it. As usual, nobody seemed convinced, and Gokudera looked ready to cry. "Wait, no, that doesn't mean I don't want you," Tsuna hurriedly soothed and cursed his bleeding heart when the Aron bumped his head against Tsuna's shin affectionately.

Granted, the bump was more like being bowled over by a small, knee-high truck. Tsuna was probably going to have a bruise for the next week there to match the ones of his stomach. Tsuna dropped his bag to rub at his smarting shin.

"Shroomish!" the Pokemon said stubbornly.

"Fine. Fine!" Tsuna threw his hands up in the air. "Follow me, I don't care, but I don't have a Pokeball for you so you're going to have to deal with wandering around by yourself!"

The grass Pokemon squealed in apparent delight and, with the little frown  _still_ fixed on its face, bounced over to the bag and, after a second of ruffling around the bag much to Tsuna's outraged protests, tapped on a Pokeball and…went into it.

That wasn't possible.  _That shouldn't have been possible._

"You can't  _capture yourself,_ that doesn't even  _make sense!_ " Tsuna yelled, thoroughly fed up. He turned to Reborn and Gokudera in support. "You can't capture yourself!" he accused.

There was a worryingly calculating gleam in the Aron's eyes.

"No!"

Too late. Tsuna dove for the small steel Pokemon, but it kept moving with the velocity of an unstoppable force. Gokudera stuck his head into the bag and disappeared in a red flash into another Pokeball.

Tsuna could only stare before he sunk to the ground in despair in a little Tsuna puddle. No way this was his life. This was a dream, this was a dream,  _this was a dream_. He didn't have four Pokemon in his bag (he actively did not think about what was in the fourth, most dangerous Pokeball), he was not in the middle of the woods hundreds of kilometers from his home, and he most certainly not did not have to deliver any kind of package to Sinnoh. No way in hell, where Reborn probably originated from.

Reborn whuffed a mocking laugh. Tsuna made a rude gesture.

* * *

Tsuna didn't dare step another foot into Petalburg City, just in case some shopkeeper was going to insist on him making another delivery, so he glumly told Mr. Briney that he was ready to go. The moment the sun set below the water, the boat set sail.

Tsuna sat on the deck, staring at the orange sky that merged into dark blue. The water sparkled in purples and reds, with the occasional gleaming ruby of a Tentacool.

He sighed. He really didn't want to, but he had to confront this strange problem of Pokemon just…following him out of nowhere. He couldn't pretend he was a trainer, because he was most decidedly  _not_ , but he couldn't not take responsibility for the three willingly captured Pokemon residing in his backpack.

He reached into his backpack, fingers skirting nervously around the one Pokeball Byakuran had given him, and pulled out three minimized balls. With a gentle, tentative throw, he tossed them on the ground.

When the red light disappeared, Tsuna confronted Gokudera, Yamamoto, and…what, what was a good name for a Shroomish. Ryohei? Gokudera and Yamamoto immediately began squabbling, Yamamoto with his usual happy-go-lucky attitude and Gokudera like an angry, yowling cat. Ryohei only bounced around in a circle, emitting squeaks in regular intervals as if goading the fight. Tsuna wondered which legendary up there thought it'd be funny to saddle him with the most problematic Pokemon against his will.

"Alright, listen up," Tsuna said in his most determined, commanding voice (which, honestly, wasn't very determined or commanding). Reborn only laid indolently on the wooden deck, yawning wide and closing his eyes.

"For whatever Groudon-forsaken reason, you've decided to follow me, which, okay, yes, fine. But I need you to know that I don't want to be a trainer," Tsuna said, feeling foolish for explaining himself to a bunch of little Pokemon. Yamamoto, balanced expertly on his tail like he was born on land, turned his head and fixed Tsuna with a serious expression. Gokudera immediately started wilting like an abandoned plant. Ryohei didn't seem to want to take 'no' for an answer. "I've never wanted to be a trainer. I haven't really ever liked Pokemon, and I still don't.  _But._ "

Tsuna straightened his spine in an attempt to take charge. "I won't abandon you guys. I don't know how I ended up with you, and I don't know why you all decided to stick to me, but I'll keep you if you want to stay." Tsuna stumbled over his words. Sweat broke out on his hands, and he clenched them. He could do this. "You'll have to understand, though, that I don't know anything about Pokemon. I don't know how to take care of you, I don't know how to battle. I won't be the best trainer ever. So I'm giving you a choice.

"I'll return you, right now, to wherever you came from. I can drop you off back in the wild, if you want, or I can give you away. Or you can stay with me, and you'll have to put up with me. Whichever you want."

There was an inexplicable clenching in Tsuna's chest, and for one still moment, he kind of hoped that they'd stay. He didn't know them long, and he knew next to nothing about each of them, but he kind of hoped they'd stay. Today had been, strangely, the least alone Tsuna had felt in a long, long time.

Gokudera and Ryohei didn't change expression (Tsuna suspected that they couldn't), but Yamamoto nodded, clearly, and with some wobbly motions, flung himself into Tsuna's arms. Tsuna winced at the slime that immediately coated his shirt and arms.

"…I'll take that as you wanting to stay with me?" Tsuna asked, tentatively, and despite his earlier misgivings and protests about how he didn't want any Pokemon, hope and warmth bloomed in his chest. Maybe he could try this. Not a trainer, most definitely not, but maybe some…friends.

Gokudera nodded vigorously and punched his head into Tsuna's poor abused shins. Ryohei bounced in agreement. Reborn only snorted. Tsuna's lips stretched into a grin.

"Okay," he said faintly. The wind tugged his words away, and he repeated, louder, to the world, "Okay. I…thanks."

They basked under the light of a fading sun and rising moon. Tsuna looked up at the stars. He could do this. He  _could._ He couldn't stay sheltered forever in Verdanturf Town. Tsuna had been dragged screaming and kicking outside of his comfort zone, but what he found wasn't fear but friends.

He could do this.

A sudden wave hit the boat, knocking over Tsuna's bag again (he really,  _really_ needed to either get a new one that didn't open as easily or put it in a safer location). The bag plopped over, and a Pokeball flew out.

The ball fell in slow motion, and Tsuna considered just jumping off the boat and drowning himself in the ocean, just to release himself from this living hell.

_"Don't dawdle too long, the Pokemon in that Pokeball is dangerous. Don't let it out! If so, it'll haunt you for the rest of your life, okay?"_

The words echoed over and over in his head like a haunting melody. The Pokeball fell to the ground and cracked open, releasing a stream of red energy. Reborn's ears pricked up, and he glared narrowly at the forming Pokemon. Gokudera and Yamamoto, bless their hearts, immediately twisted around, ready for a threat. Ryohei didn't seem to care either way and bounced up eagerly, squealing challenges. Tsuna felt a burst of fondness for them (except for Reborn, he'd never feel fond of Reborn, that devil dog).

Tsuna finally drew in a breath and looked at the Pokemon Byakuran had specifically told him not to let out.

There was a dark, purple mass floating in the air. Two big, white eyes that took up half of its face gleamed in the fading light, and a wide, red mouth opened, revealing two very pointy fangs. It gave an eerie laugh.

_"Kufufufu…"_

Tsuna wasn't well-versed in foreign Pokemon, but he'd have to have been a fool not to recognize a Gastly when he saw one.

Oh sweet mother of Arceus. He took it back. He took everything back.  _He didn't want any Pokemon, get them away from him, right now. He wasn't ready!_

Tsuna thanked the legendaries for magnificently shitting on his life in every way, shape, and form and mentally screamed in anguish at the heavens.


	5. Chapter 5

A pregnant silence descended on the group.

Tsuna stared at the Gastly with the air of a man about to be stoned to death. The Gastly's mouth stretched in a wide grin, occasionally emitting those strange and disturbing chuckles. Even Gokudera wasn't growling, holding unnaturally still. The atmosphere was so tense Tsuna was pretty sure he could cut through it with a butter knife.

"Oh my god," Tsuna muttered before he started panicking. Byakuran had told him not to release the Pokemon. And what did he go and do?  _Release the Pokemon._  He was such a dunderhead.

"H-Hi!" Tsuna squeaked.

Silence. Tsuna belatedly observed that the Gastly's eyes were not completely black. The left iris was purple, the other red. It stared at Tsuna like he was a particularly juicy piece of steak (bad imagery,  _do not think about Pokemon eating you_ ) and laughed that unsettling  _"kufufufufu_ " again.

"If you could just. Get back in your Pokeball. That'd be great?" Tsuna asked hopefully as he edged towards the open ball. He reached out a hand, but the Gastly stuck out its tongue and shot off towards Tsuna's face like a demented beach ball.

"Gastly!" it screamed and laughed as Tsuna promptly plastered himself to the floor and covered his head in an attempt to ward off the Pokemon's attack.

Gokudera screeched and tried to Tackle the ghost, succeeding only in phasing through the gaseous Pokemon. Ryohei squeaked out an Absorb, while Yamamoto jumped out of Tsuna's arms and fired a Water Gun at it. Reborn, the absolute traitor, yawned out and lazily spat a small Flame in their general direction.

"Fat lot of help you are!" Tsuna shrieked as he finally got his hands on the Gastly's Pokeball and hurled it with abysmal aim. "Return!"

The Pokeball went right through the Gastly's body.

Wasn't the Gastly supposed to go back in the ball? Wasn't that common sense?  _Why was it still terrorizing him?!_ Had the laws of Pokemon catching been flipped on their head recently, without Tsuna noticing?! First Pokemon catching themselves, then Pokemon not going back into their Pokeballs. What was the world coming to?

"Hiiie!" Tsuna ducked frantically as chaos fell upon the deck. Gokudera was stomping around like a small wrecking ball, and Yamamoto had managed to wet the entire deck with salt water and that weird slime that covered his body. Ryohei only seemed to serve the purpose of spurring the other two on, throwing out the occasional spore attack that was immediately swept away by the sea breeze.

"Reborn,  _do something!_ " Tsuna demanded before wilting at the Houndour's raised eyebrow. "I mean, great and mighty Reborn,  _please help me I can't do this._ "

Reborn lazily stood, stretched his neck muscles, showed Tsuna his very pointy, very dangerous little teeth, and proceeded to meander his way to the Gastly, which only looked down with its mocking smile. Reborn smiled right back.

Tsuna felt like he was caught in the middle of two predators. He did not like the position he was in at all.

Reborn snapped his teeth, demonstrating that yes, if he needed to, he could Bite the Gastly, but out of courtesy of another Pokemon who enjoyed terrorizing others, he wouldn't bother. He returned to his napping spot and fell asleep again.

Tsuna wasn't quite sure how to feel about the whole situation.

_"Kufufu…_ "

The Gastly, at least, didn't seem to wish any harm on Tsuna and was merrily taunting Gokudera. The most harmful thing it had done so far was scare the living daylight out of Tsuna, but no, it didn't seem to want to hurt anything. Which was, honestly, a very big relief.

A sudden wave of exhaustion hit him. Dear Arceus, all he wanted was a bed and some sleep. Any break from this chaos. He wondered what Mr. Briney was thinking about all of this and felt guilty for the slime and water-strewn deck. Perhaps he'd get up early the next morning to clean it all off.

Tsuna stared with growing apathy at the four Pokemon who seemed to be playing some form of tag, if tag included copious amounts of destruction and mayhem.

"Hey guys, I'm going to bed."

Only Reborn heard him, and after stretching, trotted back into the boat primly. Tsuna noted that he seemed more at ease on boats now. Good.

After taking in the very destructive scene playing out, Tsuna decided to just slip away to his cabin and hope that it would all be okay in the morning. The moment his head hit the pillow, it was lights out.

* * *

"Kufufu…how careless. You left all your friends on deck."

Tsuna blinked. What…where was he? What was he doing here?

All around him stretched a void covered in purple mist, above and below and left and right. Tsuna waved a hand. The mist swirled around his fingers mesmerizingly.

"Hello?" Tsuna called out tentatively. His heart started racing and trying to climb up his throat. He swallowed down the panic. "Where am I? Who are you?"

Another chuckle rang around the empty space.

"How quickly you forget. We've met before, but perhaps not in a dream yet." The voice echoed around him like he was in an amphitheater. That laugh  _had_ sounded familiar, but…

"A dream," Tsuna said. A nightmare…Tsuna hated nightmares. He'd had plenty of them as a kid, first of his bullies, then of the Pokemon who tended to bully him. Since he had left Verdanturf, though, he hadn't had any, which he was grateful for. "This is a dream."

"How clever our trainer is, Chrome!" the voice said, and from the fog materialized two figures. One, a boy, had spiked dark purple hair and mismatched eyes. His mouth was curled in a sly grin. Tsuna did not trust that face at all.

The other figure was a girl, shorter than the boy, with an eyepatch on her right eye. She bowed low. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Chrome."

"Don't be so formal to our  _trainer_ , my dear Chrome," the first boy chuckled. He extended a hand amiably, but every sense warned Tsuna not to take it. He stared warily at the proffered limb. "My name is Mukuro."

"Nice to meet figments of my imagination," Tsuna said drily. He swallowed painfully and gently took the hand like it was a Voltorb about to explode in his face. He just as quickly dropped it. "I'd like to wake up from this creepy dream now."

"Figments of your imagination!" Mukuro mocked and glanced at Chrome bitterly. "You hear that, Chrome? We're only figments of his imagination! Not even sentient, feeling beings, but  _figments._ "

"Boss, we've met you before," Chrome interjected. Tsuna immediately labeled her as the saner and nicer of the two.

Tsuna wracked his head. That smile stretched across Mukuro's face  _did_ seem familiar… "The Gastly?"

"Got it in one!" Mukuro finger gunned Tsuna and winked. God, the boy's (Pokemon's?) mood flipped like a light switch. "We're that Gastly you just released. Nice to meet you, partner."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. Call me Tsuna," Tsuna said automatically. His mother  _had_ drilled manners into his head, after all.

He was practically convinced that this whole strange dream was probably because of whatever he had for lunch. Tsuna furrowed his brows. …wait, what  _did_ he have for lunch? And for that matter, he hadn't even had dinner!

"Well, Tsuna! Looks like we'll be stuck together for a really. Long. Time," Mukuro leered as he drifted closer to Tsuna and pressed his face into Tsuna's personal space. There was a maniacal gleam in his red eye. "Please take care of us."

Tsuna gasped awake, clutching at his heart and panting. He suddenly understood why Byakuran had told him not to open that Pokeball.

* * *

"Ah, Tsuna! Good to see you up and about!" Mr. Briney called cheerfully. Tsuna emerged from the ship like a zombie, blinking up at the bright blue sky. Beyond the boat, he could see the golden sands of that accursed town where he first met Gokudera and Yamamoto. He flinched at a wailing  _"arooooooon"_ before Gokudera slammed into his stomach, and he went toppling backwards.

"Ow." Tsuna felt like he'd had all his emotions sucked out of him. The panic and fear lurked just below his conscious thoughts like a Seviper, ready to strike quickly and without warning. Thankfullly, he was pretty used to fear.

If it hadn't been just a dream, then last night's dream meant that one very dangerous, very crazy Pokemon had access to his thoughts and emotions. He wouldn't be getting any peaceful sleep anytime soon.

Yamamoto was sitting in a large bucket of water helpfully provided by Mr. Briney, splashing around happily. Ryohei was dancing and twirling and bouncing with good morning cheer, despite the fact that that little frown was still stuck on his face. There was one glaring absence.

Tsuna felt vaguely guilty he'd left them outside all night. He then felt doubly guilty when he noticed Mr. Briney cleaning off the decks.

He scrambled upright. "Mr. Briney, I'm so sorry about last night. Let me help you."

Mr. Briney waved off Tsuna with a good-natured wink. "I didn't want to disturb ya. You looked like you were having so much with your Pokemon! I've got the rest of this, why don't you go find something to do in town for a bit. We'll be leavin' in three hours."

After some more protests on Tsuna's end, Mr. Briney managed to shoo the teen off. Tsuna grabbed Yamamoto's bucket. Might as well bring it along, it was better than carrying the Horsea and getting sea slime all over his arms again.

"Where's the…Gastly?" slipped out of his mouth. He flinched when last night's dream invaded his memories again. Why were there two identities in one Pokemon? What name should he have called the ghost Pokemon by? Just calling them by 'the Gastly' seemed so impersonal.

"Oh! Right, I almost forgot. Here, boy." Mr. Briney held out a Pokeball, and Tsuna took it with all the grace of someone handling a very rare, flesh-eating disease. "It returned to its Pokeball last night by itself. Reckon it tired itself out playin' around with the others and didn't want to face the sun."

"Thanks." Tsuna shoved the Pokeball down to the bottom of his bag. No way in any kind of hell, including Reborn's, was he releasing Mukuro/Chrome again. No matter how sweet Chrome had been, Mukuro was straight up unnerving.

"Why don't you go challenge the gym? Brawly's the leader of Dewford Gym, just over there." Mr. Briney misinterpreted Tsuna's paralyzed and stricken look. "Don't worry! I'll wait for you here!"

"I-I really don't think-" Tsuna was cut off with a yelp when Reborn stepped up and carelessly tread all over his toes. He got the message very quickly. "T-Thanks, that's a great idea."

Mr. Briney beamed and shooed Tsuna off the boat. Tsuna tried to dawdle as much as he could, stopping by the Poke Mart for a belt clip for his Pokeballs and some basic Potions and Revives ("Hey, it's you again! You're headed to Sinnoh? Good luck!"), and then wandering into the Pokecenter for a quick checkup of all his Pokemon ("You  _still_ don't keep them in Pokeballs? Responsibility, young man!") before Reborn managed to herd (read: threaten) him to the entrance of the gym.

"I don't think I can do this," Tsuna muttered.

"Hound," Reborn replied insensitively, rolling his doggy tongue out before snapping at Tsuna's heels for him to hurry up.

The inside of Dewford Gym was very dark. Tsuna had managed to make it ten meters before his face collided with a rock wall. Gokudera made screeching noises of panic as Tsuna clutched his nose in pain.

"'m fine," Tsuna managed to say through his pain. Reborn only chucked, and Tsuna was almost certain he could hear a  _"kufufu_ " ring through the air. He hoped it was only his imagination. Reborn, at least, was nice enough to keep a steady stream of flames going as they wandered through the dark maze.

Tsuna soon found that, no matter how many flames Reborn spouted out, he still couldn't navigate this maze if his life depended on it. He glared at the third dead-end he came across (it looked strangely familiar).

Reborn gave him a skeptical look that said he found Tsuna's intelligence particularly lacking.

"I'd like to see you do better!" Tsuna exclaimed. And that's how he ended up following his Pokemon around the maze instead of trying to navigate it himself, which turned out to be just as bad an idea, if not worse.

"Aron!" Gokudera growled angrily, insistently standing in front of the left pathway.

"Sea!" Yamamoto argued back, pointing his head at the right pathway.

"Aron!"

"Hor _sea_!"

" _Aron!_ "

Yamamoto shook his head and used his weight to swing his bucket right. Tsuna, with his stick skinny arms and zero upper body strength, stumbled.

"Don't do that!"

His two Pokemon ignored him. Ryohei, on the other hand, enthusiastically bounced on the pathway straight ahead, and Tsuna sighed and followed the Shroomish. Gokudera and Yamamoto continued to bicker behind him, but Gokudera nonetheless followed.

"Hey! You!" A Battle Girl stalked up to him.

Oh god no. He turned with dread, looking around and hoping that someone would magically materialize beside him, and the girl was, in fact, looking at this other imaginary person. No such luck.

"You!"

Tsuna pointed at himself and tried to make himself look as much as a poor, innocent animal instead of a trainer. "Me?"

The girl planted herself of him, muscular arms propped on her hips. She grinned. "Come to challenge Gym Leader Brawly, have you? You'll have to get through me first, Battle Girl Laura! Meditite, go!"

Over Tsuna's frantic protests, a small, monkey-like Pokemon appeared, with something that strongly reminded Tsuna of a garlic bulb on top of its head. Without hesitation, Gokudera stepped up to challenge the other Pokemon.

The girl seemed confused by both Tsuna's entourage of Pokemon and the lack of command the trainer seemed to have over them. "Er…you sure you wanna send an Aron up against a fighting type?"

Tsuna shook his head. "Gokudera, get back here," he hissed. Gokudera gave a reassuring screech and took another determined step forwards. Yamamoto and Ryohei gave reassuring cheers from the sidelines. Tsuna buried his face in his hands.

"Alright, if you say so," the girl said, dubiously, before she called out sharply, "Meditite, Force Palm!"

The Meditite sprang towards Gokudera, palm outstretched, but the Aron curled into himself and braced his little feet against the ground. The hit struck, but other than sliding backwards a bit, Gokudera seemed no worse for wear.

"Nicely timed Protect," Laura commented. She grinned. "Let's see how you fare against this. Meditite, Bide!"

Gokudera warily circled the still Meditite, blue eyes narrowed and sharp. He half-hearted Tackled it, but the foe did nothing. Tsuna frowned. Why would the enemy not attack? Unless it was a trick. Something niggled at the back of his mind, and he heeded the warning.

"Gokudera, get out of the way!"

The small steel Pokemon just managed to scramble out of the way, but the aftereffects of the Bide still clipped him on the shoulder, sending him stumbling into a wall. Sensing an opening, the Meditite's palm started glowing again.

"Force Palm!"

The Aron Hardened himself last second in preparation for the blow. Dust exploded when the two Pokemon met. Tsuna's breath hitched. He stepped forward to see if Gokudera was alright, but a gentle tug drew his attention down to Ryohei, who had stepped in front of Tsuna and shook his whole body emphatically.

"I need to see if he's okay!" Tsuna protested, but Ryohei gave a reassuring "mish!" and refused to move.

_Let it play out,_  was the unspoken message.

So Tsuna kept watching, fingers twisting together anxiously.

Half a minute later, the dust cleared…leaving only the Meditite wiping its eyes to try to clear it of dust and peering around. Gokudera was gone.

"Hey! Where's your Pokemon?" Laura asked, irritation tinged in her tone. "Your Pokemon can't leave the battlefield. It's against the rules!"

Tsuna shrugged helplessly. He squinted in the darkness, but he couldn't find any hint of where the Aron had gone either.

"…well. If it's gone, you'll need to bring out anoth-" The Battle Girl was interrupted by the loud, familiar shriek of metal against rock, and Gokudera came hurtling out of the darkness and bowled over the Meditite with a Headbutt.

The Aron was covered in dust, which hid the sheen of his metal coat from detecting eyes in the low light. Everything abruptly made sense. During the dust cloud explosion, the Aron had hid and, instead of shaking off the dirt, allowed it to stay, successfully masking him from the light that otherwise would have reflected off his skin. He then hid, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Tsuna realized that not only did he have one of the most creepily dedicated Pokemon, he also had a frightfully smart one.

Metal claws glinted, and Gokudera brought down a Metal Claw right on the Meditite's face. The fighting Pokemon fainted.

The Battle Girl only stared in dumbfounded silence, glancing between her Pokemon and Gokudera with an incredulous look on her face.

"You don't even command your Pokemon?" she asked finally. Tsuna shrugged as Gokudera smugly picked his way back over to Tsuna and proceeded to look up hopefully at Tsuna for praise.

"…good job," Tsuna said weakly.

Laura sighed and handed over a small sum of money. "Well, as unconventional as your battling tactics are, I guess you won this round. Good luck against Brawly! Lemme just warn you now, using your Aron won't win against fighting types. You better switch out."

"Thanks for the advice," Tsuna said, still stunned. Ryohei bumped amiably against Gokudera, who snarled back, and slowly navigated them away from the Battle Girl and back into the great unknown of Dewford Gym.

"You're kind of scary, you know that," Tsuna informed Gokudera, who only preened.

Tsuna encountered two more trainers. Yamamoto wiped the floor with a Machop (literally) by spitting water and slime at the floor and tricking the enemy into sliding straight into a wall and knocking itself off. For a water Pokemon stuck in a bucket, the win was rather impressive and unexpected (much to Gokudera's irritation). The final battle Ryohei won with some difficulty. Meditite and Machop tended to be faster than Shroomish, so most of Ryohei's spores missed, turning the battle into one of attrition: fighting attacks against constant Absorbs. Ryohei managed to win that last battle by the skin on his teeth.

Tsuna rethought the idiom. Did Shroomish even have teeth?

Finally, after an hour of dead-ends, squabbling, and general mayhem, Tsuna found himself against Gym Leader Brawly.

Brawly was a teen, probably a bit older than Tsuna, with blue spiky hair held back by a pair of neon orange, eye searing goggles and tanned skin from training outside on the beach all day. He was also wearing toe shoes.  _Toe shoes._ Tsuna was torn between the fear of actually having to battle this guy and disgust at  _toe shoes._ What if he tripped and broke a toe?!

"I heard you guys coming," Brawly said drily. "Your group is pretty loud." Tsuna squeaked an apology, which Brawly waved away with a good-natured grin. "Nah, I don't mind. I like you enthusiastic types the most. But, uh, why're you carrying your Horsea in a bucket?"

"How else is he supposed to travel around?" Tsuna asked, genuinely curious.

"…in your Pokeball. Like every other trainer with a water Pokemon that can't walk on land," Brawly said slowly, as if Tsuna was particularly slow.

"Oh." Tsuna glanced down at Yamamoto and belatedly withdrew the Pokemon. His arms gave a groan of relief when the bucket's weight lifted. After a second, he withdrew Gokudera as well.

Brawly shook his head and laughed boisterously. "Anyways! I'm sure you know already, but I'm Brawly! Dewford's Gym Leader! I've been churned in the rough waves of these parts, and I've grown tough in the pitch-black cave! So you wanted to challenge me? Let's see what you're made of!"

The whole speech seemed strangely rehearsed and practiced. Tsuna figured that if  _he'd_ been stuck in a dark Gym all day waiting for newbie trainers to challenge him, he'd have been bored enough to make an introductory speech too.

Brawly called on a Machop. Tsuna glanced over his Pokemon. Ryohei had been exhausted by the last battle and was currently snoozing in his Pokeball. Tsuna really doubted Yamamoto's strategy against the last Machop would work again, so he was out, and Gokudera, Tsuna had learned from the first Battle Girl, had double weakness against fighting. That left Reborn and the Mukuro/Chrome as his last options. Reborn was the lesser of two evils.

"…Reborn?" Tsuna called out hopefully.

Reborn raised an eyebrow.

"Please?"

Brawly was grinning behind a hand, amused that the Houndour's behavior.

Reborn pointedly stood and stretched. He meandered slowly to the Machop and yawned right in its face.

"Hey, that's rude!" Tsuna protested. He was pretty sure that was Reborn's form of trashtalking.

"Machop, Karate Chop!" Brawly barked, and the battle began in earnest.

Tsuna opened his mouth to call out a move, but Reborn moved before he made any noise. The Houndour spat a stream of flames at the ground of Machop's feet, forcing it to hop backwards or else suffer singed toes. Reborn prowled around the Machop, and the torches around Brawly flickered, casting ominous shadows on the rock walls. He took a deep breath and breathed, but instead of flames, a purple colored Smog crawled out of his mouth and surrounded the Machop. The fighting Pokemon made a move to cover its nose, but it was too late. It had been poisoned.

"Nice job!" Tsuna cheered. Reborn rolled his eyes and went on the offensive.

Embers and fire came in an unending stream out of his mouth, and howls echoed through the Gym. Reborn went for a Bite, but the Machop shook it off easily and flung the Houndour off its arm and across the floor.

"Reborn!" Tsuna called in worry, but Reborn got back on his feet with a snarl of anger. He  _surged_ , not even bothering to get close to the Machop again and attacking from a distance with Embers. The Machop began to weaken from both the assault and poison. After a particularly vicious Ember, the Machop collapsed on one knee and fainted. Its blue skin was charred in some places and taking on an even bluer tint than before because of the poison. Tsuna felt his stomach turn uneasily. Sure, he'd seen Reborn burning other Pokemon before, but he'd never actually seen the results of a defeated Pokemon so close-up.

Fainting Pokemon had always been a phenomenon that Tsuna had never thought about. He thought they usually just fell unconscious, but the battle against the Machop forced him to realize, with startling and sickening clarity, that the defeated Pokemon  _had_ to suffer some injuries to faint. And those injuries would usually be brutal.

Brawly recalled the Machop.

"Nice, but can you handle my next one?" Brawly praised, seemingly unconcerned with the state of the Machop although his smile seemed a little sharper, a little more vicious, and enlarged another Pokeball. "Makuhita!"

The Makuhita shook itself. Its squinted eyes and wide, closed smile looked painted on his face. Tsuna glanced uncertainly Reborn. Despite his recent success, Tsuna could tell he was tired and hurting from being thrown across half the room.

"Reborn, come back," Tsuna said, steel underlying his voice.

Tsuna worried the skin of his lip against his teeth. Reborn, despite being the strongest member of his group, would definitely struggle against the Makuhita. Tsuna couldn't, in good conscience, make him fight another round. That left one other choice.

"Gastly!"

The Gastly flew out of the ball in a whirl of red light, but instead of the dark purple gas and menacing smile Tsuna saw last night, the Gastly that appeared was a lighter blue and oddly…shiny.

_"We're that Gastly you just released. Nice to meet you, partner."_

"Chrome?" Tsuna asked, tentatively. Chrome turned and gave a truly beatific smile, void of the dark mood that the Gastly had given off last night. The one last night had been Mukuro, then. Tsuna shuddered. Two Pokemon, one body. The whole thing was unsettling.

Tsuna shoved the thoughts away for later. Right now, he had a battle to win.

"A shiny Gastly? Where did you get that?" Brawly asked, eyebrows raised. He sighed and rubbed his neck. "Ghost against fighting isn't a good matchup for me, but I've got a reputation to uphold. Let this be a good battle. Makuhita, Knock Off!"

The Makuhita coiled and launched itself towards Chrome in a full body check. Chrome dodged and, with that same, calm smile, spread light blue gas around her body across the room. The lamps darkened, dunking them into greys and blues, the ideal environment for a Night Shade.

The Makuhita screwed its face up in fear and brought its gloved hands up to his head, pulling at the little yellow tie on top of its head distractedly.

"Gastly," Chrome purred, grin widening, before she stuck out her tongue and  _Licked_ the Makuhita.

The fighting Pokemon fell over without a fight.

Chrome withdrew the shadows and floated over to Tsuna. Tsuna gulped.

The whole thing took half a minute. Dear Rayquaza, his Pokemon were  _terrifying_.

Brawly winced. "I expected that outcome." He withdrew his Makuhita, dug around his pocket, and withdrew a badge shaped like a glove with a little orange gem set in it. "That was certainly an interesting battle. I'm really going to need the Pokecenter to take a look at my Machop, and hopefully you didn't traumatize my Makuhita too much."

"S-sorry!" Tsuna stuttered, taking the badge. He glanced at it uncertainly. What, exactly, was he supposed to do with it? Pin it to his shirt?

Brawly, sensing Tsuna's uncertainty, asked, "Don't you have a badge case?"

"Not really…" Tsuna frowned. He wasn't, technically, a trainer and didn't have a Trainer Card. And sanctioned battles against Gyms were, technically, illegal if one party didn't have a license.

"Whoever gave you your ID didn't give you one? What did you do with the Stone Badge from the Rustboro Gym?" Brawly narrowed his eyes. "You  _do_ have a Trainer Card, don't you?"

"Okaythanksbye!" Tsuna rushed out, Chrome laughingly following at his back. Reborn tiredly followed, limping slightly.

Tsuna made his way to the Pokecenter for the third time in two days.

"Do you take care of your Pokemon at all?" the nurse accused as she checked over Reborn. "There are pamphlets over there, take some on Pokemon care  _please_. You can't be ignorant your whole career."

Tsuna Mareepishly took several pamphlets boasting titles such as  _"Survival Tips 101"_ and  _"How to know when your Pokemon need medical attention_." Might as well learn about Pokemon and battling if he really was going to do this whole trainer shindig.

He wondered when, exactly, he made the transition from Poke Mart employee to Pokemon trainer. He blamed everything (as usual) on Reborn.

They all made a quick pit stop at a restaurant, Chrome safely ensconced in her Pokeball to avoid the sunlight, Yamamoto splashing happily splashing in his bucket, and everyone fighting over various bits of food. It turned out, Ryohei had a particular fondness for Rawst Berries and Gokudera loved rice balls. Nobody dared to touch Reborn's spaghetti, though.

Tsuna found himself having to defend his own meal from his own Pokemon, but honestly? He wouldn't have traded them for anything else.

* * *

Waves gently crashed into the side of the ship as it slowly sailed to Slateport City. Tsuna leaned against the wall, legs stretched across the bed. Each of his Pokemon were sprawled across various parts of his bed and body, slowly drifting to sleep as the boat swayed and rocked. Tsuna was skimming the multicolored pamphlets he'd gotten earlier.

_"Before you head out on your journey, you need to know the basics of Pokemon types and their corresponding advantages and disadvantages. Think of this like rock-paper-scissors, except with a lot more elements in play. The most common examples are the triangle relationship between fire, grass, and water types…"_

Tsuna yawned into his hand. Chrome was poised by the room's porthole, gazing out at the moon and water. She turned and floated over to Tsuna.

"You're not tired?" he asked drowsily. Chrome shook her body in a negative response. Tsuna looked up at the Gastly. There had to be a backstory, some reason there were two personalities in one Pokemon body. The whole thing gave Tsuna a bad feeling, and despite Chrome's standoffish nature and Mukuro's razor-sharp, prickly exterior, he wanted to get to know them more. "Wanna talk? So you're not bored for the rest of the night," Tsuna offered.

He was scared of them. By Arceus, of course he was scared of them. Ghost Pokemon, by nature, were mysterious and rather creepy, and the added mystery only frightened him more. He couldn't just pretend they didn't exist, though. He couldn't just push away their problems. He was in charge of them now. So he'd try talking.

Chrome blinked slowly, as if surprised by the proposition, and a shy smile that didn't seem to belong on a Gastly's face crept up her mouth. She nodded.

Tsuna fell asleep.

* * *

"Welcome back, Boss."

Tsuna blinked at the familiar purple mist.

"Mukuro? Chrome?" he asked, disoriented from the transition into dreams.

"Kufufu, who else? Do you often have visitors in your dreams?" Mukuro asked, amused. "So why has our illustrious leader decided to talk to us?"

"I didn't want you to feel bored. A-And I want you to know that, if you ever want someone to t-talk to," Tsuna breathed in, "you've got me. I-I don't know why there are  _two_ of you, and I feel like that's not really normal, so I wanted you to know that…I'm here for you."

Mukuro narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "You humans are rarely so benevolent."

"How many humans have you met?" Tsuna challenged in response. Mukuro's smile cracked across his whole face like a giant wound.

"Too many. However, I have to admit, you're our first trainer since we were made."

"Made?" That didn't sound good at all.

"Experiments, you see. You humans with your lust for power," Mukuro said icily. He snarled, and purple waves of malevolent energy drifted off his skin. "Could never be content with Pokemon in their natural form, could you? First you crafted machines, Technical and Hidden Machines, to teach your Pokemon, to make them more  _perfect_ , more  _useful._ You strove to capture legendary Pokemon, gods of your world, and study them like they aren't living beings. When you decided that wasn't enough, you turned to experimentation."

Chrome laid a hand gently on Mukuro's shoulder. The boy let out a trembling breath and straightened. Chrome only smiled bitterly and said, "It was a very traumatizing experience. Please forgive our anger."

Something sour curdled in Tsuna. "E-Experimentation?" he whispered, eyes widened in horror.

"Exactly so," Mukuro said after he visibly reigned himself in. He glanced at Chrome, who nodded almost imperceptibly, and continued his tale. "We used to be two Gastly. I was subject No. 69, a ghost Pokemon with an uncanny grasp for Special Attacks and phantom powers."

"I was subject No. 96," Chrome said softly before flinching at memories Tsuna couldn't see.

"She was a shiny Gastly, and of course that made her  _interesting_. She had a weak constitution, and she was meek and malleable for the scientists," Mukuro sneered, but it wasn't directed at either Tsuna or Chrome but rather at some dark phantom. Tsuna shuddered.

"What kind of person experiments on Pokemon?" Tsuna asked in horror.

"What kind of person indeed." Mukuro curled a protective arm around Chrome. "You humans are always so greedy. You always demand our loyalty and abilities, ask for us to fight for you. But have you ever wondered if we don't want to fight? We're intelligent, we have our own dreams and families. But you humans never realize that, and you yank us away from our homes and lives to serve  _you_. Tell me, human, in what world is that  _fair_."

Tsuna closed his eyes and swallowed his bile. And hadn't that been true? Tsuna had never asked for Mukuro or Chrome's loyalty. The others followed Tsuna out of their own free will, but the Gastly had been given to Tsuna, probably against their will, and he'd just pitted them against Brawly.

"I wanted to fight for you," Chrome said before Tsuna could spiral into guilt. Mukuro looked down, reprimand on his tongue, but Chrome shook her head so fiercely that her short hair whipped into her face. "Boss is different from the scientists, Mukuro."

"Even so, he never thought about it, did he?" Mukuro rebutted mulishly. "Even if you wanted to, did he ever ask? We didn't follow him around like that mindless Aron, Chrome. We were given to him to be delivered to another professor, another  _scientist_.  _We didn't have any choice in our fate._ "

"Maybe not," Chrome returned, holding her own despite Mukuro's anger. "But I think, now that he knows about our opinions, he'll respect them." Mukuro only stared at her in stony silence. "He's  _different_ , Mukuro."

Mukuro flicked a dismissive hand at him. "You're too soft, Chrome. It'll hurt you one day."

"I'll have you," Chrome said fondly, and Mukuro's mouth quirked up.

Tsuna let the implications of the conversation sink in. Someone had hurt them,  _scientists_  had  _experimented_ on two living and sentient Pokemon. Mukuro and Chrome had been caged, fused into one body. Tsuna never felt such disgust before.

"…what happened?" Tsuna asked.

Mukuro sighed. "Well, they wanted to give my powers to Chrome. A malleable Gastly with my moveset would have been powerful. So, we were fused. They didn't succeed, not completely, and it's a miracle that we still retain our individual personalities. Do you know how many Pokemon died in the process?"

Tsuna didn't want to know.

"We were their first success, and the first ones to  _survive_. Numbers 69 and 96. I'm sure you can do the math," Mukuro said without waiting for a response.

_Ninety four_ , Tsuna calculated. Ninety four Gastly had died in their experiments.

"We don't know how long we stayed in a little cage. They ran tests on our abilities, our stability, our moves. The whole thing was a blur, but eventually our particular lab was raided. We were confiscated and forced into a Pokeball. The next thing we knew, we were in your hands," the purple hair boy said dully, as if stating impersonal facts. His defensively folded arms betrayed him. "So,  _Tsunayoshi,_ what kind of trainer will you be? Will you force us to fight for you too?"

Without waiting for an answer, Mukuro dissolved into the mist. Chrome looked regretfully at where Mukuro had been.

"Mukuro protected me," Chrome said softly. She smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. "Whenever they ran tests, he was the one in control. He let me hide in our psyche. I owe him a lot. So if you hurt him, I'll make you regret it." That last statement was said with such conviction that Tsuna didn't doubt it one bit. Beneath that gentle demeanor, Chrome had as much steel and strength as Mukuro did, if not more.

"…this might not mean much to you, but I'm sorry you had to go through that," Tsuna mumbled. The whole situation, their history should have frightened Tsuna, but instead, Tsuna felt a pang of sadness, anger, compassion for a Pokemon he'd just met. "I'm sorry." Tsuna squared his shoulders and looked up, met Chrome's single eye. He wondered how she'd lost the other one. "My apologies won't change the past, but I can change the present and future. I'll do everything in my power to protect you. A-And, I won't force you to fight if you don't want to."

Chrome nodded. "I don't mind, as long as it's for you. You're not a bad person, Boss, but Mukuro doesn't trust easily, and he has little fondness for fighting now." She flashed a smile so full of trust, and Tsuna knew he couldn't let her down now. He couldn't let  _them_ down.

He awoke to a room bathed in the gentle light of dawn. At some time in the night, he had slumped over and fallen asleep on Ryohei's strangely squishy body. Reborn was curled up on the pillow, Gokudera was curled into a huddle against Tsuna, and Yamamoto was snoring in his bucket. Near the porthole, a single Pokeball gleamed in the light.

He'd do everything in his power to protect them, Tsuna vowed, right then and there. Against all common sense, he liked them now, and he wanted them by his side. So in return for friendship, he'd be there for them, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're caught up. This is as far as I've gotten so far. Have it. Take it. Accept my offerings.


	6. Chapter 6

Tsuna scuffed his toes through the sand of Slateport's beach, one hand clutching his sneakers and the other Yamamoto's bucket. Gokudera hovered around Tsuna like a Growlithe, snapping at anyone who wandered too close. Tsuna had already had to apologize to several children and parents already.

Sinnoh. That was Tsuna's next destination. He'd have to catch a ship there from Slateport, and who knew how long it would take to get there. Considering he was (probably, maybe) an actual trainer now, too, he'd need a Trainer Card so he wasn't committing an illegal deed every time he wanted to have an official battle. He wasn't  _planning_ on challenging any more gyms soon, but knowing Reborn, he probably wouldn't have a choice. While it wasn't strictly against the rules to carry Pokemon without a license, since so many people kept them as pets or household companions, participating in contests and gym battles would need one. He'd really rather be on the safe side of the law.

Thus decided, he headed for the Officer's station, full entourage of Pokemon minus Mukuro and Chrome trailing behind like a particularly bunch of destructive toddlers. Several Officers milled around the station, chatting, but several stopped and frowned dubiously at Tsuna's posse. Tsuna headed for the Officer manning the front desk, doing his best to ignore the stares.

"Hi, how may I help you?" Beside the Officer, a Poochyena hopped up on the desk to peer at Reborn curiously. The Houndour just grinned and breathed out an Ember, making the poor Poochyena topple over. The Officer frowned disapprovingly

"I need a Trainer Card."

The Officer eyed the Pokemon following him skeptically. "You're saying you own four Pokemon and don't have a license yet?"

Tsuna rubbed his neck. "Well, I didn't plan on becoming a trainer," he muttered, somewhat mulishly.  _And technically I only own three of those._ "But I figured I'd get one just in case."

The Officer hummed and reached under her desk to grab a form. "You haven't happened to participate in any official battles yet, have you?"

Tsuna lied through his teeth. "Of c-course not!"

What a dirty, dirty liar Tsuna was. He hoped it didn't become a habit.

"Name?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Age?"

"Fifteen."

And so, Tsuna slowly fed the Officer information. As they were halfway through the sheet of paper, an alarm went off, bathing the station in flashing red light. Tsuna jumped at the loud sound. Most of the Officers immediately stood when the intercom blared to life.

_"Attention, Officers. We have just received a report of a suspicious person by Stern's Shipyard. Again, we have just received a report of a suspicious person by Stern's Shipyard. All available Officers report to Stern's Shipyard."_

The Officer at the front desk winced and stood. "Sorry, kid, you'll have to come back later. We'll finish off that form for you later, alright?"

She waved at the Poochyena to follow, and soon, Tsuna was left alone at the station. He glanced down at Yamamoto, who shrugged back with…er, whatever shoulders Horsea were supposed to have.

"Well, I guess we're coming back later," Tsuna announced to nobody in particular. Once outside, Reborn looked up with a look that Tsuna was rapidly learning to mean  _I've-got-an-idea-and-you're-not-going-to-like-it-but-it's-happening-anyways_. Tsuna knew  _exactly_ what he was planning.

"No, we're  _not_ going to spy on an Officer investigation!" Tsuna hissed. Reborn didn't really seem to care about what Tsuna thought (as usual) and immediately began making his way towards Stern's Shipyard. "Reborn, come back here!"

Tsuna was rudely treated to the sight of Reborn's backside. He groaned low in his throat, hefted Yamamoto's bucket in his arms, and followed. He suspected that this was what mothers with five children felt like. He vowed to treat all mothers better.

They approached a large crowd surrounding the shipyard. There were angrily raised voices coming from the center of the crowd, and Tsuna spotted several Officer uniforms between the gaps of bystanders.

"What's going on?" he asked a lady on her tiptoes, trying to look over the crowd.

"Apparently they're investigating a suspicious person that just came off the S.S. Tidal." She glanced over and frowned at Ryohei, who was trying to jump over the tops of everyone's head to see what was going on. Tsuna was impressed that he was actually making some amount of progress, getting higher and higher with each hop. "You need to be careful, young man. There's been a rash of Pokemon kidnappings, and having them out and about isn't safe right now."

Tsuna frowned as he started recalled each of them. They all gave a childish whine of protest before disappearing. "Do you know anything about the kidnappers?"

The woman shook her head ruefully. "Not much. We just know that a bunch of Trainers have found their Pokemon missing. There's even been rumors of some Trainers out on Route 110 who were attacked, but they couldn't identify their attackers. It's ominous. We haven't had so much trouble since Team Aqua and Magma."

"Is that why everyone's so interested in this suspicious person?" Tsuna asked.

"Good intuition. Yeah, the Officers have been on edge for several weeks now trying to catch whoever's responsible," she replied.

Reborn, who didn't have a Pokeball for Tsuna to even catch him with and thus had complete freedom to be a devious and wily bastard, began winding his way between legs to the front of the crowd.

"Sorry, thanks," Tsuna said hurriedly before trying his best to keep up with the Houndour. "Reborn, not here," he whispered furiously.

Reborn, naturally, did not listen.

After many apologies and excuses, Tsuna managed to push to the front of the crowd. A dark skinned, black haired man dressed casually in a white button-up and black slacks sneered down at an Officer. A black tie was messily tied around his neck, and he wore black, tightly laced boots. Most odd were the red feathers hanging out of his hair.

"You fucking listening to me, trash? Said I've got business here. Now get out of my way," the man growled, temper clearly rising.

"We need to know who you are and why you're here, and we need to see your immigration papers," the Officer said firmly and, in Tsuna's opinion, rather bravely. The man was  _scary._

"I'm not giving you my fucking identity here, in the middle of the street," the man snapped, eyes darting around at the crowd and sneering. The man's gaze swept over Tsuna, and even though he paid no attention to the teen whatsoever, a feeling of foreboding crept up Tsuna's spine. "I noticed you're not paying any attention to the rest of the shitstains on the boat. You have no legal right to detain me, bitch."

It was pretty clear that he was being investigated because of his appearance. He towered over everyone, a dark scar across his left cheek. He practically  _reeked_ danger. Fortunately, the Officer had enough tact not to say so.

"Slateport City has been having a string of kidnappings recently, and we need to investigate any and all suspicious persons. Let's take this to the Officer Station, where we can check over your documents," the Officer replied calmly. She had a spine of pure steel.

The man muttered angrily before finally barking, "Fucking  _fine_. Let's go, bitch."

The man was still scowling, eyes narrowed but staring straight ahead. Despite being caged in by several Officers on all side, he walked with his back straight, head tilted arrogantly.

Tsuna shivered. Dear Arceus, he hoped he never met that man alone at night.

He really should have known that the moment he made that wish, he'd jinxed himself.

* * *

Dusk fell on Slateport, bringing with it the gorgeous view of the sunset casting the city in orange hues. Tsuna was seated at an outdoor restaurant in Slateport Market, watching the sunset and numerous kids running on the beach, laughing and playing. A Pokemon battle occasionally broke out, but otherwise, the evening was peaceful. Out in the water, Tsuna occasionally spied the glitter of scales, probably Yamamoto. He'd let the water Pokemon out to splash in the ocean. Even if the Horsea was happy in a bucket, Tsuna was pretty sure he liked actual open water more.

Tsuna had chosen Huntail over rice for dinner and was slowly making his way through the teriyaki-cooked eel. Chrome was slowly chewing through an apple. He'd figured that, since Chrome had been stuck in either a lab or Pokeball all her life, he'd let her and Mukuro out as much as possible the minute the sun fell. It was only fair.

As usual, Ryohei and Gokudera were arguing over…something. Tsuna was never sure of what. Reborn was busy picking his way through Tentacruel rings, occasionally charring them before dunking the burnt bits in ketchup. He looked like he was feasting on the raw, bloody flesh of innocents. Tsuna shuddered at the disturbing scene.

Overhead, Wingull and Pelipper called to each other, bombing the occasional unwary beachgoer with droppings. Reborn huffed a laugh each time it happened, the sadist.

"Is this seat open?"

Tsuna turned to see a man, tall with blond hair and friendly smile. There were a ton of other tables empty…why did he want to sit here?

Gokudera, sensing Tsuna's unease, turned a screeching growl at the man, who held up his hands in the universal expression for 'I mean no harm.'

"Sure," Tsuna replied, gesturing at the seat beside Reborn. The Houndour favored the man with a truly condescending look before returning to his meal. "Um. Did you need something?"

The man hummed before nodding to Chrome. "I was just interested in your Pokemon. A shiny Gastly is pretty rare, isn't it?"

The question immediately put Tsuna on guard. Perhaps they  _were_  rare, but a stranger showing so much investment in Chrome,  _especially_ considering she'd been experimented on, was alarming.

"I guess so," Tsuna answered vaguely before stuffing more rice into his face, trying to discourage conversation.

The man was not discouraged.

"Where'd you get it?" The man propped his face on a fist and closed his eyes in a friendly expression. Tsuna didn't trust it one bit.

Chrome also turned slowly, sensing Tsuna's trepidation, and widened her mouth in a rather accurate mimicry of Mukuro's own unsettling grin.

"Around." By now, all of his Pokemon (other than Yamamoto, who was obliviously playing in the water) had focused laser-like attention on the man. Gokudera, if he had fur, would have been fluffing it to appear menacing and bigger. Ryohei's frown was more pronounced. Maybe. It was hard to tell.

By now, the sun was well below the horizon, and the nightlights of the city began flickering on. Tsuna spied shopkeepers begin packing up their wares, so he abruptly stood.

"Sorry, excuse me sir, but I've got to go."

The man's dark brown eyes were sharp, no matter how much he tried to hide it with an easy-going attitude, but he only nodded. Tsuna could feel the man's heated gaze on the back of his neck the entire time.

The moment Tsuna's feet hit the beach, he sighed in relief. That had been…unnerving. Unusual. Tsuna would have to keep an eye out for him. He wasn't sure what, exactly, the man had been angling for, but Tsuna had a feeling it wasn't good. Was he looking to trade? To steal? Was he part of the organization that had experimented on Mukuro and Chrome?

A shiver that had nothing to do with the damp chilliness of the sea breeze raised goosebumps on his skin, and he hurried over to Yamamoto.

"Time to go!" Tsuna called over the crash of waves. Yamamoto ducked under the water, and after several seconds resurfaced closer to the shore.

"Horsea!" he squealed back. Despite the evening's earlier events, Tsuna smiled. Yamamoto looked better, certainly, which was a relief. That would be at least one of them cheered up by the evening.

Tsuna enlarged his Pokeball. He thought back to the lady earlier that day, who had warned Tsuna to be careful of kidnappers, and the man who'd sat down at this table and shown unusual curiosity in Chrome. He wasn't taking his chances.

He returned everyone, leaving only Reborn irritably shaking sand out of his short fur and growling irritably whenever the water came close to his paws.

"Let's go," Tsuna said, turning to head back to Slateport-

-where there was a man blocking his path.

No, not the man from earlier that evening, but rather a heavy-set, muscled man dressed in a strangely familiar blue uniform. Nothing else seemed familiar about the man, though.

"Hey, kid. Hand over your Pokemon."

Tsuna's throat dried up. Beside him, Reborn, for once, seemed to take the situation seriously. He rumbled a low, dangerous growl, and the sand began to glow red from his flames. While Tsuna hadn't been paying attention, the beach had emptied of all visitors, having packed up and headed home. Tsuna was, essentially, alone.

This was most certainly not good. Not good at all.

So Tsuna did what he usually did best in stressful situations.

"I-I think you h-have the wrong p-p-person," Tsuna stuttered, flailing his hands like a lunatic. "N-None of my Pokemon are e-even that strong!"

The man took a threatening step forward. "I'll be the judge of that. Hand them over, kid."

When the man took another step, Reborn let a wash of red Embers lick at the sand. A warning that the man did not heed.

He scoffed and withdrew a Pokemon from his belt.

"Fine then. If you wanna pretend to be a trainer, then I'll treat you like a real trainer! Go!" The man threw his Pokeball, and Tsuna's fingers clambered at his belt and minimized Pokeballs before managing to land on one, and he flung it in front of him in desperation.

Ryohei emerged with a cry, little frown downturned and angry. "Mish!"

The other man's Pokemon was some strange fluffy creature with pale yellow fur and a blue face. It blinked and gave a little "Reep!"

"Thunder Shock!" the man commanded. The foe shook its head vigorously and hunched down to the ground. It gave a small whine of distress. "I said  _Thunder Shock_ , you useless Pokemon!"

The Mareep pressed even harder against the ground, as if hoping it would melt and never reemerge. Tsuna felt a surge of pity for it.

"Hey! It's s-scared of you!" Tsuna yelled angrily. Seeing someone treat their Pokemon like a tool…it was despicable. Pokemon abuse, while rare, did exist, and seeing it play out first hand was a nauseating experience. "Stop doing that!"

"What use is a Pokemon that doesn't listen to its master?" the man sneered. He turned back to the electric Pokemon and said, low and menacing, "If you don't listen to me right now, I'll give you back, and you'll never see the light of day again."

There was a bright flash of light. Tsuna yelped and covered his eyes, and both Reborn and Ryohei gave surprised cries. Tsuna vaguely heard the other man cursing up a storm. When Tsuna pried his eyes open through streaming tears, the enemy Pokemon was gone, and in its place was a purple bipedal with white fur covering the top of its head and neck.

Had…had it  _evolved_?

"Goddamn it, I knew they gave me a useless Pokemon. Fuck, doesn't matter," the man growled as his Pokemon resumed its huddling position, now slightly more awkwardly because of its increased size. The man rolled up his sleeves. "I'll have to do the work myself. Useless piece of trash." He aimed a kick at his Pokemon. It whimpered in pain but didn't dare fight back.

Tsuna, by now, had most certainly had enough.

"Ryohei," was all Tsuna managed to say before, with surprising force, the Shroomish leapt and kicked the man straight in the face. The man toppled over, cursing, and swung a blind fist at the grass Pokemon. Reborn dodged the man's kicking feet and pulled the man off balance with a vicious tug of the man's pants that Tsuna suspected also tore a good portion of the skin beneath. The man toppled over under the combined assault. Tsuna was feeling a distinct lack of pity for the man.

Tsuna rushed over to the fallen, abused Pokemon. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked in his most soothing tone. "Don't worry, I'll bring you to a Pokecenter."

The Pokemon curled tighter on itself. The sight tugged at Tsuna's heart, and he stretched out a hand entreatingly.

"Come on, I won't let him hurt you any longer. Let me get you checked out and taken care of, okay?"

The electric Pokemon stared warily at Tsuna's fingers, and when Tsuna stretched them even further, nudged them cautiously. A small smile broke out on Tsuna's face.

"That's right, don't worry, I've got-"

"What the ever loving fuck is going on here?!"

Tsuna's head whipped up, and the electric Pokemon gave a high-noted whimper and buried its nose back in its wool.

Walking towards them was the dark-skinned, foul-mouthed man from earlier. The suspicious person from Stern's Shipyard.

Tsuna could imagine what kind of scene he found on the beach. Tsuna was squatted in front of a clearly abused Pokemon, both Ryohei and Reborn were pummeling a grown on an abandoned beach, and the attacker himself was kicking and spitting and yelling at the two Pokemon, but he hadn't landed a hard blow on them yet.

The man's eyes narrowed, and he asked, dangerously, "I hate repeating myself.  _What the fuck is going on here._ "

Tsuna jabbed a finger at the man. "H-He attacked us!"

The man looked sardonically at the attacker. "Looks to me you're attacking him, trash. Wanna try again?"

Tsuna was about to defend himself, but there was another flash of bright light from the (still unidentified) Pokemon. Tsuna unbalanced and fell onto his butt to get away from the source, and the newcomer gave an incensed  _"What the-?"_

When all parties could see again, the purple Pokemon had returned to its more fluffy, blue skinned form.

Tsuna gaped. Wait…hadn't it evolved? What was it doing, back in its first form?  _What was going on?_

There was the sound of panting and curses, and  _another_ man, this time the one from dinner, arrived on the scene.

"Xanxus…would it  _kill_ you…to just  _wait_ for  _one goddamn minute_ …" the blond panted, hands on his knees and gasping for breath when he finally stopped. "First you leave me behind and create a ruckus at the dock.  _Then_ you run off without me in the middle of a conversation. I swear to Arceus you're the hardest person I've ever had the displeasure of working with."

"Maybe you should try to fucking keep up for once, shitstain," Xanxus growled back. "Fucking Officers, can't do anything right." He reached behind his back, and Tsuna tensed. He really hoped that this wouldn't come down to a battle. Xanxus, having seen Tsuna's twitch of apprehension, bared a smile to make even a Sharpedo proud. "Feeling guilty, trash?"

"I'm i-innocent," Tsuna retorted, fingers clenching in the sand. Grains crunched irritably under his fingernails, and he forced himself to relax his fingers. He hadn't committed a crime (barring battling illegally in an official Pokemon match, but  _he was not thinking about that_ ). He had nothing to be guilty of.

In a flash of movement, Xanxus swept down towards the fallen man. Reborn snarled, but he and Ryohei darted away to rejoin Tsuna. There was a series of clicks almost inaudible above the sound of the sea, and when Xanxus stood again, the uniformed man was sporting a pair of very nice handcuffs. Xanxus shoved his hands in his pockets again.

"Well!" Dino clapped his hands. Ignoring the arrested man's increasingly incensed threats ( _"Just wait until I get my hands on you, you'll regret this!"_ ), he found the still cowering electric Pokemon's ball and returned it. He tossed the ball in the air, up, down, up down, and fixed Tsuna with a grin that he didn't trust one bit. "I think I'll keep this for now."

Tsuna scrambled forward and stood. "You can't just  _steal_ someone's Pokemon!"

Dino chuckled. Xanxus, who apparently had deemed his job done, hung back like a particularly brooding shadow. "I'm not stealing. This Pokemon is evidence for an ongoing investigation, and this man is part of an organization that we've been trying to pin down and catch for several months. We're bringing them to the Officer station." The man grinned apologetically. "We'll need you to come too, for a witness report."

What. What was happening. Had Tsuna accidentally gotten himself involved in criminal activity? Tsuna glanced down at Reborn, who was glaring smugly at the criminal. Ryohei, as usual, was bouncing obliviously, although he also kept a wary eye on all three men.

"…sure," Tsuna said weakly. What, exactly, had just happened?

* * *

"Dino. My name's Dino." Dino sat down at the desk and pushed a mug of hot, steaming coffee towards Tsuna. Tsuna accepted it, even though he usually preferred tea, and clutched at the mug nervously. He fiddled with the handle.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, but most people just call me Tsuna," Tsuna offered. Reborn dozed on the table, the only Pokemon out and about at the moment. Tsuna really didn't want any of his Pokemon causing unnecessary chaos right then.

Dino scribbled something on a piece of notebook paper. "Any relation to a Sawada Iemitsu?"

Tsuna blinked in surprise. He hadn't seen his dad in…hell, he hadn't seen him in  _years_. Tsuna was always peripherally aware that his dad had a job and travelled often, and he didn't really begrudge the man of that. Iemitsu, with his personality, probably would have gone crazy cooped up in small little Verdanturf Town.

"Yeah, he's by dad," Tsuna answered, somewhat belatedly. Dino hummed and quirked a grin.

"Knew you looked familiar. Your dad shows us pictures of you and his wife all the time. He really loves you guys," Dino commented.

"Not enough to visit often," Tsuna muttered before he realized what he said. He glanced up at Dino, who frowned.

"He's a busy man," the Officer said cautiously. Tsuna quickly shook his head and waved his hands back and forth.

"T-That's not what I meant! I mean, I know he's busy, and he takes care of us financially, but. I wish he came and visited more often." Tsuna stared shamefully at his coffee. He shouldn't have said that, now he'd gone and made Dino uncomfortable with family drama. On that note, he really needed to call his mom, at least before he left Sinnoh. Guilt sank like an anchor.

Dino chewed his lip and hummed. "I guess it's hard making a journey to Hoenn every time he wants to visit. It's a far journey."

"W-What?"

Dino frowned. "Your dad works in Sinnoh. Didn't you know?"

Well.  _That_ certainly explained a lot. Tsuna scowled. "No. I didn't."

Dino coughed uncomfortably and took a sip of from his mug to recover his composure, likely from the uncomfortable topic. He sighed and set the mug down with a  _clink_.

"Iemitsu's line of work isn't the safest. It's actually probably for the best he didn't involve you or your mom."

"What does he do?" Tsuna had always wondered, but he and his mom were always financially stable, so it never occurred to Tsuna to actually ask.

"He's head of the Pokemon Officers in Sinnoh," Dino explained. He quirked a grin. "He's my boss, actually. But I'm getting off topic. We need your account of the events that happened tonight."

Tsuna began recounting what had happened following dinner. The mysterious man who had sat down had, in fact, been Dino. He described how the beach had been empty when he'd been approached by the attacker, how the electric Pokemon had been abused, and defensively explained that his Pokemon had only been defending him. He most certainly had not sicced his Pokemon on the man, and he hadn't laid more than a finger on the man's Pokemon.

Dino tapped his pen on the metal table. "This Pokemon, it's called a Mareep, originally from Johto. What's weird is that it had evolved during your encounter, but then… _unevolved_ right after. That's not usual Pokemon behavior. Actually, there's no official record of that ever happening."

Tsuna nervously rubbed his fingers around the rim of his mug. "W-What does that mean?"

Dino's face was grim. "It means that this Pokemon has been experimented on."

All the blood from Tsuna's face drained, and he suddenly felt very faint.

"L-Like…"

"Like that Gastly you have," Dino confirmed. Tsuna tensed.

"How d-did you know?" Tsuna asked. Unless…unless Dino had been involved in the experiments. Unless Dino, despite his friendly manner, was part of the organization that had killed ninety four Gastly in an attempt to genetically merge two into one. Tsuna glanced over at the station entrance. He could probably run for it, but…

"Relax, kid. I know because Byakuran gave a report for us."

Tsuna's eyes snapped back to Dino. "What?"

Dino sighed. "It's a long story. There's this organization in Sinnoh called Team Genesis. They've been wrecking havoc in our region, stealing Pokemon. Several of our squads found signs of Pokemon experimentation in labs hidden away in different parts of Sinnoh, which was when we began taking this Team seriously. They're even more dangerous and unhinged that the last criminal organization we had, Team Galactic. In one of the labs, there were plans and talk about expanding the organization to Hoenn, so we sent our own people to contain and arrest them before they started attacking the trainers here too."

"Byakuran." It made a little more sense now, but there were still unanswered questions.

"Byakuran is one of the Elite Four from Sinnoh," Dino confirmed, and  _wow_ wasn't that a surprise? Who'd have thought that a man hiding out in a cave in the middle of nowhere  _studying a bag of marshmallows_ was, in fact, one of the strongest trainers in Sinnoh? Nobody, that's who. Dino continued, oblivious to Tsuna's mental turmoil. "He led a squad of Officers to find any hidden labs and smoke out any remaining Team Genesis grunts. Fortunately, there was only one lab, containing one successful experiment, your Gastly. Don't worry, Hoenn is basically safe," Dino was quick to reassure. "We've been working with the Hoenn Officers to tighten up security of all incoming travel."

Oh Arceus. This was…this was larger than Tsuna had imagined. He'd thought, when Mukuro mentioned experimentation, that it was a single occurrence, just a small group of people, but to know that there was a whole  _organization_ experimenting on Pokemon…

Tsuna leaned heavily on his forearms to prop himself up. That was  _horrifying_.

"Byakuran sent us a report about how he was going to return soon. Unfortunately," Dino said, dry as a desert and more than a little exasperated, "he became enamored with the rock Pokemon in Hoenn, so he messaged us saying that he'd sent a kid to deliver the experiment to Professor Rowan. Imagine my surprise seeing you sitting in an outdoor restaurant with a shiny Gastly."

"You knew," Tsuna accused, and Dino shrugged.

"Well, yeah. You matched Byakuran's description, and a shiny Gastly isn't exactly common around these parts. Wasn't hard to figure out. I'd just arrived today with Xanxus to take care of some business, but we've received additional orders to escort you to Sinnoh and deliver the experiment safely to Professor Rowan."

"Mukuro and Chrome," Tsuna said, eyes narrowed. This whole situation was quickly slipping from his fingers, but if there was one thing that he wouldn't tolerate, it was calling Mukuro and Chrome 'the experiment.' They were  _living Pokemon_ , and for Dino to just treat them as evidence and something to be studied raised Tsuna's hackles. "The Gastly's name is Mukuro and Chrome."

Dino leaned backwards. "Alright, sorry kid. Didn't mean to offend you."

 _It's not me you should be apologizing to_ , Tsuna thought darkly but kept his thoughts to himself. "So what's the plan now?" he asked.

Dino hummed. "Well, now Xanxus and I pay for your ship ticket, and we get you to Professor Rowan as soon as possible. The Gas – I mean, Mukuro and Chrome need to get to the Professor so he can try to find out why, exactly, Team Genesis is experimenting on Pokemon and what their goal is."

"I'm not letting them go," Tsuna said firmly. At Dino's incredulous look, Tsuna clarified, "I like them. They've been through horrible things, and I'm not going to just give them over to be put back in a cage and studied again."

"What happens isn't exactly up to you, kid. If we can unwind what Team Genesis did to it, then we might be a step closer to stopping them."

 _"I'm not giving them up_." Tsuna, despite his earlier nervousness, felt very strongly about this. He'd promised that he'd make Mukuro and Chrome as happy as possible. Tsuna didn't like breaking his promise.

Dino eyed Tsuna speculatively. "You care a lot about your Pokemon."

Tsuna didn't deign that statement with a reply. Dino sighed.

"You're just as hard-headed as your old man. Fine, I'll see what strings I can pull. Professor Rowan's not a mean man, and if he sees that you've formed a bond with your Pokemon, he'll probably let you keep it. And…" After a moment's contemplation, he yelled over his shoulder. "Hey, Xanxus!"

 _"What do you want, trash?"_ came the irritated reply. Dino was unfazed by the insult. Judging by their dynamic, Dino was actually probably used to it.

"Where's that Pokemon you confiscated from that grunt?"

Xanxus appeared in all his dark, sulky glory. "The fuck you asking for, shitstain?"

Dino hummed, a mischievous smile on his lips. "Well, I was thinking about giving it to our intrepid little trainer here."

Silence reigned. Dino waited patiently for Xanxus, who worked his mouth like he couldn't even  _fathom_ what a hilariously bad idea that was. Tsuna rather agreed with Xanxus' sentiment.

"You finally gone and lost it, fuckmunch?" Xanxus asked incredulously. "Did I hear you right? You want to give  _evidence_ to some greenhorn trainer? Were you dropped on your head as a kid?"

"I'm perfectly serious," Dino replied, although his hastily suppressed laughter belied his words.

Xanxus frowned, glared at Tsuna (who wilted rather spectacularly), looked back at Dino, before huffing and tossing a Pokeball at Tsuna. It flew in a perfect arc, but Tsuna botched the catch clumsily. His sweaty hands clung uncomfortably to the ball.

"Better not be making a mistake." Dino laughed in the face of Xanxus' warning.

"I have a good feeling about this kid."

Xanxus sneered, turned on his heel, and left. After a goodbye and a "get some rest, we head out early!" from Dino, Tsuna sat in silence, staring at his newly acquired Pokemon.


	7. Chapter 7

_"Be careful, dear! Make sure you've packed enough clothes. I've added more funds to your bank account, so don't worry about running out. And tell Iemitsu hi for me!"_

"I will, mom," Tsuna replied. He took a breath, gathered all the courage he had, and said, "I'm really sorry. I don't want to leave you by yourself, but I kind of have to do this. I'm really sorry."

Nana laughed, and Tsuna realized exactly how much he missed that laugh. Actually, he missed a lot of things about home. He missed his bed's freshly laundered sheets, he missed the peace of managing a Poke Mart, he missed his mom's cooking. Homesickness twisted at his heart.

He couldn't believe he was leaving his Hoenn, leaving his  _mom_. Their family would have been happier if his dad had just thought to stay, and now look, Tsuna was leaving too. The guilt gnawed at him, but he needed to go. He wondered if this was how Iemitsu felt each time he left.

_"Don't apologize, Tsuna. I'm proud of you."_ Nana tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled warmly from the screen. Tsuna found himself tearing up involuntarily.  _"I knew you'd follow your dad eventually. You're a brave boy, Tsuna, and I don't want you to hold back because of me."_

Tsuna gave a watery smile. "I'm just worried you're going to be all alone."

_"Don't worry about me! I've got Oregano here, she's all the company I need. Go on your adventure, Tsuna!"_

"Thanks, mo-" Tsuna's newly acquired Mareep, whom Tsuna had nicknamed Lambo (it made sense in his head; Mareep was a sheep Pokemon, add an o at the end, and voila!), cut Tsuna off and jumped into his lap. Lambo snuffled at the screen.

When not being abused by horrible trainers, Lambo was, actually, a rather inquisitive and outgoing Pokemon. He'd quickly warmed up to Tsuna and promptly gotten on Reborn's nerves. Tsuna didn't know whether to feel grateful that Reborn had someone else to preoccupy his time or guilty for subjecting the poor electric Pokemon to the Houndour's wrath.

"Reep!" Lambo chirped, and Nana laughed in delight.

" _Oh, is this your Pokemon? Introduce us!"_

And so, Tsuna lugged each Pokemon in front of the screen so Nana could see, explaining how he'd met them and what species they were. Tsuna skipped over Mukuro and Chrome's history, though. He didn't want to worry his mom.

Mukuro floated closer to the screen and gave a rather charming (for a Gastly) grin. "Gaaastly!"

_Traitor, you're not that nice to me!_ Tsuna sulked as Nana cooed at how nice and adorable all his Pokemon were.

The conversation began winding to a close. Tsuna said goodbye with promises to call before disconnecting the call. He sighed, slumping in his seat.

Arceus, it seemed like  _ages_ since he'd seen his mom. He stood and thanked the nurse before exiting the Pokecenter before remembering to recall Mukuro. The ghost really didn't like daylight.

He made his way towards Stern's Shipyard, where Xanxus and Dino were waiting.

"Where've you been, trash?" Xanxus growled. He didn't seem particularly angry, though. Perhaps growling and being a dark cloud was his baseline personality.

"Sorry, had to make a call to my mom," Tsuna explained, cringing under Xanxus' dark glower.

"Ah, and how is Nana these days?" Dino asked, picking up the conversation for Xanxus, who undoubtedly would only have sneered and snarked.

"She's good. She says a friend's been helping her out with the store." Tsuna presented his ticket and was waved aboard the S.S. Tidal.

Dino's lips twitched. "A friend, huh. Oh, your Pokemon need to go in their Pokeballs. I know they like being out and about, but there's a rule about Pokemon only being out on deck or in the training rooms."

Tsuna grimaced as he returned everyone but Reborn. "Uh, Reborn doesn't really have a Pokeball."

Dino eyed him strangely. Xanxus, who had just gotten through the security check, laughed. "Newbie trash. Who doesn't have a Pokeball for their Pokemon? How'd you catch it?"

"He kind of…followed me?"

Dino snorted, and they began making their way to the living quarters. "I think I need to start expecting the unexpected from you, Tsuna. You're a weird trainer. I guess your Houndour can stay, but it's gotta be quiet and not disrupt the other passengers. I'll talk to the Captain about it."

In his room, Tsuna carefully stowed away his backpack (he'd learned his lesson about backpacks and ships) and watched through a porthole as the ship departed, leaving Hoenn behind.

Hoenn, his home. Hoenn, which held everything he was familiar with. Tsuna took a deep breath, and when he let it out, he found tension slowly leaving his shoulders. Maybe a fresh start would do him some good. Maybe, like Nana had said, it was time to find his own adventure.

Tsuna placidly watched his home country become smaller and smaller before a thought struck him.

_Wait…I never got my Trainer Card!_

* * *

As evening fell, Tsuna made his way to the dining room, where Dino and Xanxus were already sitting down for dinner. Dino was enthusiastically making his way through a large plate of lasagna, and Xanxus was glaring sulkily down at a slab of Tauros filet mignon, one hand holding a glass of red wine.

"-not that bad," Dino consoled.

"Fucking terrible, the chefs should be fucking  _ashamed_ of themselves. Fucking foreign trash can't cook for shit," Xanxus muttered darkly, stabbing at his steak with vehemence.

Tsuna was quickly reconsidering his decision to join them for dinner, but Dino perked up when he spotted the teen and waved him over.

"Tsuna! Perfect timing, I had something I wanted to talk to you about."

Tsuna warily sat at an open seat, and a menu was shoved in his face. Thankfully, nothing on the menu was too expensive, so he ordered a ramen and glass of water and settled down to wait for his meal.

"So, I've been thinking," Dino started, ignoring Xanxus' muttered  _"that's a first,"_ "you're probably going to start being targeted by Team Genesis now."

Tsuna squawked. " _W-What._ "

Dino continued like this was a normal situation for Tsuna to find himself in. "Well, you're now carrying two Pokemon that they're most probably going to want back-"

_"You gave me one of them!"_

"-and with your habit of letting them roam free, someone's going to recognize them, and word will probably get back to Team Genesis. We Officers can't afford to have someone follow you around all the time, so you'll have to be on your own after we get you to Professor Rowan. So. You see the problem here."

Yes, Tsuna most definitely saw the problem. He very much, very clearly saw the problem. Xanxus snorted with amusement at Tsuna's horrified expression and delicately took a sip of wine.

He didn't want to be attacked! Maybe never letting Lambo or Mukuro and Chrome leave their Pokeballs would fix the problem, but the thought of keeping them under lock and key left a sour taste in his mouth. He couldn't do that.

"Well," Dino drawled, and a sly gleam warned Tsuna that he wasn't going to like this at all. "I figured we might as well prepare you while we can. A favor to the boss' son, you could say. Xanxus and I are going to tutor you in Pokemon battling."

Xanxus choked, while Dino only smiled beatifically at the dark skinned man as he hadn't planned the timing right when Xanxus was drinking. " _What the fuck did you just say, trash_."

"E-Excuse me?!"

Dino speared another forkful of spaghetti thoughtfully. "Well, the S.S. Tidal is equipped conveniently with a training rooms. We've got a week on this ship together before we arrive in Canalave City, might as well spend it productively."

" _Like hell we will_."

Tsuna's meal arrived with little fanfare and was duly ignored in favor of Tsuna trying not to melt into a horrified puddle on his chair.

Dino ignored Xanxus' protest. "We'll give you tips and tricks on how to battle. You're pretty new, aren't you? With first evolution Pokemon like you have, your party is pretty weak. Beginner level, even. We'll see if we can buff them up a bit, teach them how to work with you in battles."

" _ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, FUCKER?!"_

The roar filled the dining room, drawing multiple startled and disapproving looks from the other passengers. Dino groaned, exasperated. "Really, do you always have to make a scene?"

Xanxus folded his arms, muscles twisted and tense beneath his forearms. "I'm only saying it once. I'm not fucking training the little shit. If you want him to be your fucking project, fine, but leave me out of it."

Dino winked at Tsuna. "Don't worry about him, he'll come around eventually. I've got to take care of the boss' kid, don't I?"

"Maybe you do, but I don't!" Xanxus snapped, angrily chewing through his steak like a rabid Rattata.

"You'll be bored, admit it," Dino laughed cheerfully. Tsuna marveled at the Officer's ability to laugh in the face of danger.

Had he thought this adventure would be fun? Did he think it'd be a nice, fresh start? Yeah. It was already going poorly, which probably spelled disaster for whatever he was going to find in Sinnoh.

As they finished dinner and paid for their meals, with increasingly incensed shouts and cheerful, calm retorts, Tsuna wondered how he managed to surround himself with such colorful characters. He blamed Reborn.

When the two older men left the room, there was a great sigh of relief from everyone still going about their meal. Tsuna sympathized.

"Meet in Training Room C at 10! I'll see you bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning!" Dino called before dragging Xanxus off. The dark skinned man looked ready to Cut off Dino's hand. Tsuna wondered if he'd ever grow a hide as thick as Dino's.

He shut the door to his own cabin and double checked that it was locked, just in case Xanxus decided to take revenge by murdering Tsuna in his sleep, before releasing each of his Pokemon. Reborn, who'd been taking a nap on the bed, yawned and opened one beady eye lazily.

Gokudera snarled at everyone and proceeded to Headbutt Tsuna's permanently bruised shins. The room was slightly crowded, so Tsuna quickly escaped into the small cubicle of a bathroom to take a quick shower and brush his teeth.

He stared in the mirror, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth and foam dripping into the sink like he had rabies. This was his first step towards independence. There was no going back now. He'd soon be on his own, no Dino, no Xanxus, only his motley crew of Pokemon for company. Tsuna stripped and examined his skin. His shins were in various stages of healing, colored yellow and blue and purple, and he was starting to tan from all the sun exposure, obvious tan lines around his upper arms and neckline. His arms, though still sore, were hardening, muscles beginning to grow from carrying Yamamoto around everywhere.

Tsuna stretched out his sore muscles and stepped into the shower. He quickly but thoroughly gave himself a scrubbing, making sure he washed behind his ears, and hurriedly dried himself. He didn't trust his Pokemon to not commit some atrocious deed while he was gone.

His suspicions were, unfortunately, completely warranted. He emerged from the bathroom to chaos, and once he registered what was happened, his eyes widened. "Wait, sto-"

Mukuro, who had floated silently behind Lambo, opened his mouth in a very wide and mischievous smile. "GASTLY!" he screeched.

Lambo let out a particularly loud and startled squeak, and Mukuro began laughing loudly.

Tsuna shushed them hurriedly. "I'm not supposed to have you out, you need to be quiet!" Tsuna's heart was racing at the loud noise. Everyone quieted down, some more reluctantly than others. Gokudera was glaring especially nastily at Lambo, who was starting to sniffle and tear up. Yamamoto, thank Arceus, was calmly and happily splashing in a bucket Tsuna had pilfered from some storeroom, and Ryohei, as usual, was bouncing up and down, adding to the general mayhem. Reborn sat on Tsuna's pillow like a king reigning over his subjects.

A laugh bubbled up unexpectedly, and Tsuna grinned fondly at them.

Tsuna collapsed in bed and thought, yeah, he could get used to this. His hair then proceeded to stick up wildly from the resulting shock of static Lambo gave off.

He could  _probably_ get used to this, Tsuna amended.

* * *

Training Room C was rather large. Its floor was smooth earth, with white lines painted to indicate the borders of the arena. Bright, white lights hung from the ceiling, and several seats lined the walls.

Dino was already waiting inside with a flaming horse – Rapidash – and a large turtle Pokemon that Tsuna didn't recognize. Xanxus was sitting in an observation seat, legs sprawled out and face grumpily smooshed against a fist. He probably wasn't a morning person.

Dino caught sight of him and waved frantically.

"Good morning!" Dino greeted as Tsuna entered the room. He hesitated, unsure of what to do. Should he let out his Pokemon? Was he going to be battling?

"Morning Dino, Xanxus," Tsuna returned. Xanxus huffed an impatient breath.

"Well, get on with it, trash. I don't have all day to deal with this bullshit."

"You most certainly do have all day. If I let you alone, all you would do is brood and insult everyone you came across," Dino said calmly, genteel smile still pasted on his face. Dino was as calm as Xanxus was angry, it seemed. "Well, since we're all here, let's get started. Let out all of your Pokemon."

One by one, each of Tsuna's Pokemon appeared. As he'd forgotten to bring a bucket, though, he awkwardly held Yamamoto. God, was the Horsea growing? Tsuna didn't want to keep having to lug him over ground.

"Ah, your Horsea. Hm…yes." Dino glanced over at the turtle Pokemon. "Enzo, if you would."

The turtle brought its foot down and shook the ground, tremors racing away in a small shockwave. Tsuna was suddenly struck with the very real fear of whether the ship was strong enough to endure multiple Pokemon attacks. Gokudera lost his balance with the ground shockwave and screeched in panic. Right, he was a steel and rock type, wasn't he? Tsuna winced as Gokudera quickly lost his balance and fell onto his side, stubby little legs waving around in the air like an overturned turtle. Lambo was equally as displeased and began crying.

The Earthquake carved a furrow into the ground, and Dino gestured towards Yamamoto. "If your Horsea can just fill the hole, you won't have to carry it."

Once Yamamoto was safely deposited in the makeshift pool, Tsuna rolled Gokudera back over and quickly went to calm the poor Mareep. Gokudera was glaring daggers at Dino's Pokemon. It only looked back stonily.

"Well, time for introductions! This here is Enzo, my Torterra. You probably haven't seen one before." Dino patted the Rapidash on its neck, and it turned to nuzzle into Dino's hand. "And my Rapidash's name is Romario. I've got two other ones, but these two are some of the strongest in the Sinnoh Officer force."

Tsuna glanced uncertainly at his Pokemon. All of them were rather small, especially compared to Dino's two beasts.

Dino clapped like a schoolteacher trying to get his students' attention. "Alright, well, let's start with teamwork. Who do you think is in charge on the battlefield?"

Tsuna glanced uncertainly at Reborn. He was pretty sure, in most of his battles,  _they_ had actually been the ones acting independently of Tsuna's orders, but…

"Me?" Tsuna asked hopefully.

"Wrong." Romario stepped forward with only a nod from Dino. "Teamwork is built on time and trust. When battling, you should always be keenly aware of your Pokemon's abilities and moveset, yes, but you also need to keep in mind their personality, their reaction times, and how they act in certain situations. They must also be aware of your every word and trust you enough to follow them, often without knowing your own reasons. Trust is the biggest factor in Pokemon battles."

Dino nodded to Tsuna. "So choose your Pokemon, and let's begin."

Tsuna looked over his Pokemon. Rapidash were fire types, so the best option would have been… "Yamamoto, I choose you!"

Soon into the battle, though, Tsuna could see what Dino had been talking about. Dino uttered only a few words, but the Rapidash seemed to instinctively know what Dino wanted. The most the blond ever said were "Romario, on your left!" and the Rapidash dodged after a split second. Dino seemed to trust in Romario enough to know what it was doing.

Tsuna, however, quickly lost control of his Pokemon. The reaction time between him issuing orders and Yamamoto acting was too long, and often times Yamamoto would try to act on his own. In fact, Tsuna thought grimly, most of his Pokemon acted without his orders. Mukuro and Reborn, especially, didn't heed Tsuna much at all, electing to rely only on themselves. As a result, Mukuro was swept up in a Leaf Storm that he could have avoided had he  _just listened_. Mukuro had then decided that, no, he wasn't dealing with this, and his body lightened and gained a shimmering sparkling sheen. Chrome was disoriented at the sudden transition and then nearly taken out with a Crunch.

Tsuna noted to talk to them about who was going to be in control when and where. Mukuro had put both of them in danger with the sudden transition.

Dino ended the free for all battle with a sharp whistle. Tsuna stiffly relaxed his fisted hand and rolled his shoulders. Sweat had started to bead on his forehead at some point. His Pokemon all gave a whuff of relief.

"Decent, for a beginner, but you need to spend a lot of time with your Pokemon and build up that trust." Dino, comparatively, looked completely stress-free. "Now that you know what to work on, we need to talk about your Mareep."

"Lambo?" Tsuna asked, bewildered.

"Unless you don't plan on using it for battle, you need to figure out how and why it evolves and devolves. While a surprise evolution is always good, devolving is a very easy way for it to get itself hurt."

Tsuna looked down at the fluffy Pokemon. Lambo looked up with beady puppy eyes, and Tsuna sighed.

"Well," Tsuna began, glancing at Dino uncertainly. "Lambo, do you want to fight?" Tsuna learned his lesson with Mukuro and Chrome. If Lambo refused to participate in battles, Tsuna wouldn't force him. Hell, if Lambo decided he wanted to be released, Tsuna would do that. He didn't want to force his Pokemon to do something against their wills.

Much to both Tsuna's relief and apprehension, Lambo nodded vigorously.

Unseen by Tsuna, Dino smiled approvingly. The kid at least respected his Pokemon, which was a step in the right direction for building trust and teamwork.

"Good," Dino said softly and shot a smug grin at Xanxus. The tanned man only rolled his eyes. Dino had just  _known_ that Tsuna would treat the Mareep well. "Bring your Mareep into the arena. We'll try to find out what, exactly, triggers the evolutions."

Lambo walked into the square with some trepidation, but it gave a loud "Mareep!" and stood firmly against Enzo.

It turned out, though, that despite his bravado, Lambo really was rather inexperienced in battle. He tended to trip over himself and only let out little shocks of static, no real attacks. He also scared very easily, twitching nervously with each watered-down attack Enzo threw. Even Tsuna had to admit that the whole endeavor seemed somewhat…pointless and pathetic.

"Enzo. Bring it up a notch."

The Torterra seemed to know exactly what Dino had meant, despite Tsuna's confusion, and immediately let out an Earthquake that  _shook_ the ground. Lambo gave a high pitched squeal and was tossed carelessly to the side. He drew into himself and squeezed his eyes shut, an action that reminded Tsuna uncomfortably of when the Team Genesis grunt had kicked him.

"Stop!" Tsuna yelled at Dino. Dino ignored him, eyes narrowed and smile still painted on. Tsuna took a step when Enzo viciously snapped at Lambo, a Crunch coming dangerously close to the Mareep. "I said,  _st-_ "

The light of an evolution bathed the room, making Tsuna cover his eyes hastily. When he could look around his hand again without burning his eyes, a familiar purple Pokemon sat on the ground, two legs stuck out, blinking furiously.

Enzo withdrew. Dino grinned in satisfaction.

"You didn't have to take it that far," Tsuna snapped as he rushed to Lambo's side. The Flaaffy waved his striped tail, and Lambo curiously peered over his wool at the blue ball at the tip.

"Actually, I did," Dino drawled. "Lambo, it seems, cannot control his evolution, and only evolves under duress. It only evolved when Enzo came close to seriously injuring it, so the controlling factor may be extreme emotions, fear, or danger." Dino shook his head ruefully. "I'm sorry for what I had to do, but I don't regret it."

Tsuna only cradled the electric Pokemon in his arms, patting his head soothingly.

"You can't protect it forever, Tsuna," Dino said softly, gently. "Especially if it wants to learn to fight. If you don't want to force its evolution, that's fine, but either you hope that it will evolve when it's supposed to, or you'll have to find a way to encourage him to switch forms."

And Tsuna knew. He knew that, if Lambo wanted to learn how to battle, he couldn't coddle his Pokemon. But his own soft-hearted feelings only made him feel guilty for the decision.

Dino stretched. "Anyways. That was good, we managed to set a goal and address several problems you have during battle."

Tsuna stood wearily. Even if he himself hadn't been physically participating in the battles, he felt wrung out by the lesson. "Thanks, I really appreciate it. I'll see you guys tomorrow?" he asked.

Xanxus barked a laugh. "Trash, you're not done yet. You've still got to deal with me."

What.

Dino returned Enzo and Romario and didn't meet Tsuna's eyes. He suspected the older man was feeling guilty for leaving him with Xanxus. "I've taught you about teamwork, but Xanxus will actually teach you about battling. Good luck!" Dino left the room with a cheerful "See you later, Tsuna!" and no consideration for the fact that  _Tsuna was about to die at Xanxus' hands, ohmyArceus._

Xanxus unfolded like some great bat come to spell Tsuna's doom the minute Dino was out of sight. His feathers swayed in some nonexistent breeze, and his black eyes were narrowed, focused on Tsuna like a predator watching a Caterpie.

"Well then…" Xanxus rumbled, clearing taking too much amusement from Tsuna's terror. He chuckled menacingly. "Since you're going to be taking so much of my time, I should really teach you how to  _fight_. By the end of this training session, you'll be a smear on the ground."

Tsuna personally thought that Xanxus was taking fear tactics a bit too far, but of course that was probably also a biased opinion, so.

Xanxus slowly withdrew a Pokeball from his belt, enlarging it with a flick of his fingers. He held his arm outstretched and cocked his head. "Let's rumble, newbie. Bel."

Red energy coalesced into a large, purple Pokemon with four legs and three pincers, much like a scorpion. Xanxus bared his teeth.

"Meet Belphegor, my Drapion. Well? Let's see what you're made of. Pick a Pokemon!"

Tsuna glanced over his Pokemon. He had no idea what type Drapion was, but possibly…bug? Drapion certainly  _looked_ like a bug. Tsuna held no belief that he could defeat Xanxus, but if someone was going through the trouble of teaching him, Tsuna was going to pull out every trick in the book. "Gokudera, let's go!"

The Aron, still tired from having to go against Dino's Pokemon, stood to face the Drapion admirably. It was almost comical, the size difference between the two, if Tsuna hadn't been trying to swallow his nausea.

"Bel, you know what to do."

The Drapion rushed Gokudera, and with a careless flick of his tail, swept Gokudera away. Much to Tsuna's surprise, Bel didn't keep going after the small Aron but instead focused its eyes on Tsuna. There was a rush of movement, rush of air, and Tsuna suddenly found himself on the ground, caged in by three, white-tipped feet. The fourth was poised directly above his throat, only a centimeter from his skin.

Tsuna froze. His breath started coming out in quick puffs, and he felt panic and fear,  _real_ fear, set in. It was icy cold, like water slowly being dripped down his spine and numbing all his extremities. If the Drapion put even a little of his weight on the foot above Tsuna's neck…

There were several enraged screeches and snarls, mainly from Gokudera, although Ryohei was making a very heroic effort in trying to save Tsuna, and smoke was curling from Reborn's jaws. Each potential attack, though, was easily rebuffed.

"Stop, or I'll let Bel crush the kid's neck." Tsuna's Pokemon froze.

Footsteps approached Tsuna, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Xanxus leaning over. His face was serious, very unlike his usual sneers and arrogant looks.

"Do you know the fastest way to end a battle?" Xanxus asked casually, as if remarking on the weather. He didn't wait for a response. "You kill the trainer. With the trainer gone, the Pokemon are often left partnerless, with no direction or order. They either flee or become emotional, and anything acting on pure instinct and emotions are often easy pickings."

"T-That's illegal. That's  _m-m-murder_ ," Tsuna croaked. The Drapion moved his leg and backed off. Tsuna was dragged to his feet with one strong grip. Xanxus just as quickly let go of Tsuna's arm.

"What I say now will not leave this room. You hear me?" Xanxus asked quietly. Tsuna nodded frantically, heart still rabbiting in his chest. Xanxus nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Listen to me, and listen carefully. I'm not going to tell you this again.

"You're going to be chased and targeted when you get to Sinnoh. You'd been letting that damn Gastly wander around at night, and people were bound to notice it. If we'd let any Genesis grunts slip through our fingers, they'll know in Sinnoh. And even if we hadn't, unless you never let your sheep or ghost out, you'll still get noticed anyways. Understand?"

Tsuna already knew this, but he didn't say a word.

"Team Genesis isn't going to just line up and let you take a shot at them one by one. They cheat and they steal and they kill. This isn't some fairytale villain, trash. They'll fight dirty if they find you. Dino might teach you how to work with your team and how to fight an organized, sanctioned battle, but I'm going to teach you to fight street smart." Xanxus looked away, eyebrows furrowed, and Tsuna wondered if Xanxus himself ever had to fight dirty. He'd had to have learned from somewhere. "You don't do this around goody-goody-two-shoes trainers, and you  _definitely_ don't do this around Gym Leaders. What I'm going to beat into your head is a last resort, get me? And only when you're fighting to  _survive._ "

Xanxus turned and patted Bel on the neck. The Drapion lowered his head and let out a hissing laugh.

"I'm not going to kill someone," Tsuna said firmly. He wasn't going to do what Xanxus just did, attack a trainer outright and threaten to kill them. That wasn't…people didn't  _do_ that.

Xanxus chucked darkly. "Maybe, maybe not, trash, but I'm not here to teach you how to kill someone. I'm here to teach you to win at any and all costs."

"B-But that's not…" Tsuna trailed off, trying to think of a word to describe what Xanxus was talking about.

"Good sportsmanship? Honorable? What's the price of honor, when your life is on the line? Out in the wild, trash, there are no rules."

What followed was one of the most exhausting experiences in Tsuna's life. Xanxus was a tough teacher, unlike Dino. He didn't bother explaining, and he didn't go easy. His lessons were taught in his battles, not words. He demonstrated the advantage size had by ruthlessly crushing Reborn, easily Tsuna's strongest fighter, with a Tyranitar. He showed the advantage flying types had over those bound by land by having a Honchkrow dive-bomb Yamamoto relentlessly. Even Mukuro couldn't hold a candle to Xanxus' Sharpedo, despite the shark being restricted to water.

Xanxus taught Tsuna to go for the eyes and throat, to stop being squeamish about aiming for weak spots. He dogpiled a vulnerable and crying Lambo with a Tyranitar, Honchkrow, and Drapion. Taking out the weakest so he could focus on the strong. He only spoke once during the lesson.

"Strike hard and strike fast, so you don't have to strike a second time."

Tsuna didn't think he'd ever resort to Xanxus' tactics. He didn't think he'd ever have the heart to cheat and turn a one-on-one battle into a three-on-one. At least, he really hoped not.

"Why?" Tsuna asked, exhausted and on edge, when their lesson drew to a close. All of his Pokemon were injured and tired. He'd probably have to see if there was a nurse on board and get his Pokemon seen to. "Why are you so invested? I don't think you go around teaching everyone this stuff."

Xanxus was silent. Thinking he wouldn't get an answer, Tsuna turned to leave. When he gripped the doorknob, though, Xanxus finally spoke.

"It's our fault we're involving you in this. The least we can fucking do is ensure that you survive this clusterfuck." Xanxus began returning his Pokemon too, a serious, darker expression on his face than usual. Tsuna didn't want to ask about it.

Tsuna shut the door, mind whirring with the day's experiences.

* * *

The rest of Tsuna's week proceeded similarly. Tsuna wasn't quite reached Dino's level of wordless communication with his Pokemon yet, but he began building a rapport with them. They began listening to him, although Gokudera was still too excitable and headstrong and Reborn just didn't like being bossed around. Mukuro and Chrome had established with Tsuna early on that most battles would be handled by Chrome, so there were no more abrupt switches. Occasionally, though, Mukuro made an appearance during Xanxus' lessons, and he was scarily skilled at exploiting weaknesses like Xanxus taught.

Ryohei and Yamamoto were, fortunately, more willing to listen to Tsuna. Yamamoto, especially, was particularly adept at reading Tsuna's moods, perhaps because of his more level-headed nature. They worked well with each other well, and Tsuna began understanding what Dino had been talking about with teamwork.

Xanxus' lessons were a gauntlet of challenges, tailored to making Tsuna learn on the spot. He had to be simultaneously more aggressive and more defensive, act spontaneously and come up with strategies.

The week passed quickly. Between the lessons, dinner, and sleep, Tsuna found he didn't have much energy to do anything else.

And so, when the S.S. Tidal finally docked in Canalave City, Tsuna took a deep, fortifying breath and stepped for the first time into Sinnoh.


	8. Chapter 8

"Professor Rowan is in Jubilife City." Dino stretched his arms above his head, relishing in being back on solid land. Canalave City was surrounded on all sides by water and boats. It was drastically different from any other city Tsuna had ever been to, and he was struck by how…well,  _foreign_ everything felt. "We can either catch a ferry there, or I can Fly us there."

"Fly," Tsuna hurriedly said. After being on a boat for a week, he didn't really want to set foot on another ship anytime soon. Xanxus scoffed, like he knew exactly why Tsuna wanted to Fly, and took out a Pokeball.

"Well, since that's decided," Dino muttered amusedly. He released a giant bird, a Noctowl, if Tsuna remembered correctly. "Meet Ivan. Since you're a small kid, we could both probably fit on his back."

Ivan stretched his wings and cocked his head unhappily at the sun. Dino muttered apologies for the daylight while Xanxus summoned his Honchkrow, who kept pecking at his clothes despite its trainer's irritable swats.

"Fran, stop," Xanxus snapped, but the Honchkrow only gave an amused squawk and ducked to tug impishly at Xanxus' feathers. Xanxus groaned exasperatedly. "Damn bird. Don't know why I fucking caught you, you're such a piece of shit."

And thus situated, they made a short but rather miserable trip to Jubilife with Reborn clutched between the Noctowl's claws. Reborn's put out expression told Tsuna that the Houndour was probably going to be in a very bad mood after the flight.

From the air, Jubilife City was all grey: grey streets and grey buildings. Only the tops of several houses and a fountain in the middle of the city broke the monotony with color. It was all just so…impersonal, like the residents were highly adverse to nature. They landed in front of a modern building, all glass and steel, with a giant P emblazoned on the front.

"The Poketch Company," Dino explained as the Noctowl gratefully returned to the Pokeball. The Honchkrow gave another teasing peck at Xanxus' hair before Xanxus practically chucked its Pokeball at it. "Professor Rowan is here to pick up some tech. You don't have a Poketch yet, do you?"

Tsuna shook his head. He'd never even heard of a Poketch. "Do you think I'll need one?"

Dino led the way inside with Xanxus bringing up the rear like a moody teenager. "We'll see if we can get one for you, free of charge. The Professor gives the company a lot of good ideas and business, the least they can do is give him, and therefore us, a free Poketch."

Dino flashed his Officer badge with a charming grin and a wink at the front desk attendant, who flushed and gazed a little doe-eyed at the man. And up they rode to the third floor.

The third floor was just as sleek and modern as the outside, with steel-grey tiled floors. There was a waiting area to Tsuna's right, and right up ahead was a door with  _Poketch Company President_ written on a small, metal plaque. Dino knocked on the door, and Tsuna heard a  _"Come in!"_  before the blond pushed it open.

The inside of the office was painted with warmer colors and carpeted with an eye-watering orange fabric. Two men were seated on a couch, and one behind a large desk. All three rose to greet them.

"Ah, Dino and Xanxus! Glad you could make it," an old man greeted. His hair and moustache were already whitened with age, and his face set in a stern expression. "I've been waiting with Kawahira all morning for your arrival."

The other man who'd been sitting on the couch reached out a hand to Dino, who took it. "It's good to see you again, Dino and Xanxus. We were actually just about to leave and were only talking with the President about new ways we could revolutionize the Poketch."

Dino nodded and winked charmingly at the last man behind the desk. "I'm looking forward to seeing what new apps you come up with. I'm sure they'll be just as fantastic as the rest."

The President laughed boomingly.  “It’s good to see that even high ranking Officers look forward to my inventions.  Anything to help keep this country safer, and Kawahira and Rowan here have been helping immensely.” 

“Well, anything you develop helps gather data for my research and unraveling the many mysteries of the Pokemon world, so I’m always glad to offer suggestions,” the old man, Professor Rowan, said gruffly.

“Keep suggesting away!”  The President squinted at Tsuna, who had been hiding behind Dino and Xanxus in hopes of being ignored.  “But I’m afraid introductions are due.  Who do you have here?”

Xanxus pointedly stepped aside so Tsuna had a clear view of everyone. Tsuna gulped. "M-My name is S-Sawada Tsunayoshi." He bowed at a stiff ninety degree angle. Reborn gave a rough bark, demanding an introduction as well. "A-And this is Reborn!" he added hastily. He straightened and focused his eyes on the wall behind the President.

Dear Rayquaza, he hadn't even spent a  _day_ in Sinnoh and already he was being introduced to company presidents? Sweat broke out over his palms.

The President grinned widely. "Why'd Dino and Xanxus bring you here, then?" he asked, trying to inject as much friendliness as possible into his words. They would have comforted Tsuna if he wasn't caged in by unknown people in an unknown place for a somewhat unknown reason.

"U-Um…"

"We met Tsuna here in Hoenn while on official business, and he expressed interest in visiting our wonderful region! So I thought, why not, we'll bring him along, and since he's doesn't have a Poketch, we might get one for him while we're here!" Dino beamed shamelessly, as if he hadn't just heavily implied that he wanted a free piece of technology from the President. Tsuna wanted to facepalm, but considering his hands were, by now, completely clammy, he managed to restrain himself.

The President, thankfully, seemed to be a very generous man. "Certainly! In fact, Kawahira here had asked yesterday for several prototypes of the new model of Poketch we just developed." Kawahira obligingly reached into his green kimono (Were there pockets in there?  _Why was he wearing a green kimono in the first place?_ ) and pulled out a thin watch with a wide screen, colored just as neon an orange as the carpet. Tsuna was starting to question the entire Sinnoh population's taste in fashion and design.

First a monotone city. Then bright orange carpets. And white haired men wearing green kimonos? What next, a rock specifically shaped to look like a Pokemon?

(Far away, in Sunyshore City, a Starly took a shit on a Munchlax-shaped rock.)

"Here you go!" Kawahira said, offering the watch for Tsuna to take. With a bit of fumbling beneath various gazes, he managed to strap it to his left wrist. It actually looked really nice, and the fact that he'd gotten such an expensive piece of technology for  _free_ was kind of mindblowing.

"T-Thank you!" Tsuna bowed again hastily.

The President boomed. "None of that, now. Kawahira's helped me a lot with the design process. I've programmed the company number in there, so if you ever need anything or if we develop a new app, we'll be sure to let you know!"

"Thank you so much," Kawahira said. He stuck his hands in his large sleeves casually. "Now I have some business to attend to with these fine fellows, so if you'll excuse me."

"Go ahead, go ahead, I know how busy you people get," the President said as he slumped back in his chair dramatically. "I'll just be stuck in here doing paperwork, as always." He stared mournfully at a rather large stack of paper on his desk.

Tsuna made sure to thank the President one more time (his mother instilled him with  _manners_ ) and was ushered out of the office.

"Now that that's settled." Kawahira pinned Tsuna with a serious gaze, and all illusions of a gentle-mannered, oddly dressed man disappeared. Tsuna froze like a Beautifly being examined under a microscope. "I believe we all have some things to discuss. There's a restaurant nearby, and I haven't had lunch yet. I'd love to catch up with everyone."

Tsuna had a feeling that the meal would be less 'catching up' with Dino and Xanxus and more 'interrogate Tsuna' time. He wondered if it was too early to flee back to Hoenn.

Tsuna was practically herded to the restaurant, Xanxus at his back and Dino always within arm's reach of his side. Kawahira and Professor Rowan led the group, chatting in low tones.

The restaurant was (surprise, surprise) also colored grey, with large windows overlooking the concrete streets. There was only one other couple eating at the moment, all the way on the other side of the restaurant. They settled in a corner booth, with Tsuna squished between Dino and Xanxus like they were a pair of bodyguards on one side and Kawahira and the Professor on the other side.

Kawahira motioned for some menus and glasses of water, and after making sure the waitress had left, began thumbing through the pages. Tsuna took of a sip from his glass, hoping for something to do with his hands. "I think real introductions are in order. I'm Kawahira, the Pokemon League Champion."

Tsuna practically spat his water across the table, much to Xanxus' disgust.

"Fucking trash, watch what you're doing," Xanxus snarled, and being seated this close to the man  _really_ brought out the rage that always seemed to simmer right below the surface. Tsuna shrank against Dino, who rumbled an amused chuckle.

Tsuna mopped up the mess and Mareepishly glanced at Kawahira, who was still gently smiling, unfazed by the whole thing. Professor Rowan seemed to be flipping through his menu in earnest.

"…as I was saying." Kawahira laid down his menu and gave up all pretenses of browsing. "As the Pokemon League Champion, the Elite Four and I have a responsibility to the people. Criminal activity has been on a rise for several months now, and we've been dedicating our time towards stopping it at the cost of temporarily halting Pokemon League activities. Have Dino or Xanxus explained the situation to you yet?"

Tsuna nodded.

"Good. Then you know why we need those two Pokemon you have," Kawahira said.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. He glanced at Dino, who nodded encouragingly, and at Xanxus, who was still stonily glaring at the rest of the restaurant. He twisted his trembling fingers together.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I really can't do that."

Kawahira steepled his hands and looked at Tsuna from over his round glasses. Professor Rowan finally addressed Tsuna for the first time. "Young man, if you know what's been happening in Sinnoh, then you know why we need those Pokemon. You cannot withhold them from us, and the fact that you're even thinking of doing so is shameful."

Tsuna frowned back. "Professor, with all due respect, I thought you would understand the best. They're  _Pokemon_ , and they have feelings just like we do. I can't just pass them around, and I'm definitely not going to give them over for more study."

Professor Rowan's lips pressed into a hard line, although his eyes brightened with something like approval. "You think I don't understand? I've worked with Pokemon all my life, and I care about my own on a very personal level, but you must realize that this is larger than one or two Pokemon. Team Genesis poses danger to the entire Sinnoh region."

 _I know. Ninety four Gastly_ , Tsuna thought grimly,  _and how many more casualties?_  "You're willing to study, and possibly  _experiment_ on, Pokemon?"

"You're willing to save a few at the cost of hundreds?" the Professor rebutted.

They glared at each other angrily.

The Professor, despite Tsuna's immediate rejection of the idea, had asked a reasonable question. What were two Pokemon, in the grand scheme of things, if it would save tens, hundreds of other Pokemon? Were Mukuro, Chrome, and Lambo really worth protecting?

Objectively, no. But for Tsuna? Yes. Yes, they were.

The tension was broken by the waitress, who asked for their orders in the same, harried manner most of those in the service industry had. As the others placed their orders, Tsuna realized he hadn't chosen anything and belatedly asked for a burger and fries. She left, but the argument had been shattered. Professor Rowan leaned back in the booth chair and watched Tsuna consideringly.

Kawahira broke the standoff. "Well, we technically do know what Team Genesis' goal is," he mused. Professor Rowan glanced sharply at the Champion. "They're looking to make a Pokemon as strong as Arceus itself. They're trying to recreate the world."

Silence fell over the table again, but this time, it was baffled and disbelieving. Tsuna suspected Kawahira liked timing his words for maximum drama.

"…what the fuck?" Xanxus asked, as if questioning the collective intelligence of the whole organization. "These fuckers off their rockers?"

Dino frowned. "Is that new information? The Officers never heard about it."

"We've been withholding information. The fewer the people know, the less likely it is to get out, and the smaller the possibility of panic is," Kawahira explained. "As such, I need each of you to not tell  _anyone_ of this information, even your superiors." Kawahira looked at Dino meaningfully. Dino pursed his lips.

"You're not sharing necessary information," Dino accused.

Kawahira nodded. "Based on my judgement, it was for the best."

"How did you find out? When?" Xanxus demanded.

"Many of the notes obtained from their raided labs made references to The Original One, and there were detailed notes on various experiments that could achieve its powers. In fact, many of the labs contain Pokemon that have never existed before, with powers that aren't in any of our records. There were also mentions of creating a new world, or wiping this world clean and restarting it.

"They want to create a blank slate."

Tsuna pressed a hand against his stomach in an attempt to hold down rising dread. It didn't work.

"And they want to do that by...what, making another Arceus?" Dino asked incredulously. "That's lunatic!"

"Why didn't I know?" Xanxus hissed. Tsuna thought it was odd that the man was offended at not being told confidential information. Was he someone very important? Tsuna had assumed he was an Officer, just like Dino.

"Only Professor Rowan and I knew, and the squad that retrieved the information were vowed to an oath of secrecy."

Professor Rowan huffed. "Just because we know what their endgame is doesn't mean that we can let go of any available samples of Pokemon we find. We need to map their progress, see what they've accomplished, and find a way to counter their methods. They're not only trying to create a powerful, god-like Pokemon.  _They're creating weapons_. Why do they want to create a new world? We don't know, and looking into the minds of these lunatics in charge of Team Genesis will only result in madness. That's why we need your Pokemon."

Weapons. Mukuro, Chrome, and Lambo had been experimented on, and hadn't Lambo been handed out to a grunt so he could be used  _precisely_ as a weapon?

"Y-You can't," Tsuna stuttered, whined, because he knew, logically, that giving the Professor his two experimental Pokemon might help in this conflict, but he'd  _promised_  to take care of them. "You can't take them!"

Professor Rowan looked sorrowfully across the table at him. He looked like he had taken the world on his shoulders, just as stricken at having to tear a trainer from his Pokemon as Tsuna was himself. "I'm sorry, boy," he said, softly, like platitudes would make it all better. "But all the help we can get will greatly aid our research."

Kawahira coughed. "Well. Like I said, we  _do_ know what Team Genesis' objectives are, although we don't know why they're doing it. So, I'm sure that Tsuna here can keep his Pokemon, don't you think?"

The Professor gaped disbelievingly at Kawahira before he sputtered and glared at the other white haired man, but hope rose in Tsuna's chest. "What?! You guilt me into forcing a kid to give up his Pokemon, and now you're changing your mind?!" The Professor looked incredibly put out, but also relieved. "This whole thing was your idea!"

Kawahira shrugged, as if it were no big deal. "I changed my mind. Seeing someone so close his Pokemon really thawed my frozen heart, you know?" He winked at Tsuna, who was beginning to melt like a popsicle under a hot sun from relief and stress. Dino helpfully hauled him back up so he was sitting properly in his chair.

Professor Rowan groaned and rubbed his hand down his face. "I go and break the kid's heart against my will, and you go and play hero. I'm never talking to you again."

Kawahira held up his hands in a playful attempt to ward of the Professor's words.

Dino leaned down and whispered, "Isn't that great? You get to keep them!"

Tsuna didn't know whether he wanted to kill them for scaring him like that or hug them in joy. The situation had flipped so suddenly Tsuna was going to get whiplash one day. The fact that the  _Champion_ was just sitting there, joking with the most lauded Professor in the region made the whole ordeal feel even more surreal.

 _Crazy_. The whole table was full of crazy.

Their food arrived, and all the remaining tension melted. Dino teased Tsuna while Rowan and Kawahira bickered over their food. Xanxus complained and snarled under his breath about his sub-par steak but consumed it anyways.

"And since, you know, Tsuna was coming to Sinnoh anyways, we thought we might as well give him some tips on how to battle!" Dino recounted the whole tale, starting from their meeting at the Slateport restaurant.

" _You_ thought we'd give him tips. I was against the whole thing," Xanxus muttered rebelliously.

Rowan grinned good-naturedly. All evidence of the strict man from before had disappeared, leaving someone who, Tsuna found, truly did love his research and Pokemon. Tsuna slowly fed his fries to Reborn, who was nipping at his ankles for more food.

"So what did you learn?" Rowan asked.

Tsuna ducked his head. Being addressed by such a famous figure was still intimidating, though. "Well, Dino really helped me figure out how to communicate with my Pokemon better, and Xanxus gave me a ton of great battling tips."

Kawahira fixed Xanxus with a gaze, something unsaid communicated between them. "Nothing too advanced for your age, I hope. You need to start from the basics and work your way up."

Tsuna shook his head vigorously and exclaimed, "N-No, not at all! He was great!" He snapped his mouth shut and peered shyly at Xanxus. Xanxus' mouth was quirked up in a satisfied smile, not even a smug one, that transformed his whole face and lessened the shadows that hung around him constantly. Tsuna refocused on his food, glad that he'd made the older man smile at least once.

"I'd hope so. Xanxus is an Elite Four, after all."

Tsuna calmly processed this fact, took a deep breath, and looked back at Xanxus, who was sporting a full-blown smug smirk, dark eyes crinkled in amusement. "I thought you were an Officer."

"Surprise, motherfucker," Xanxus deadpanned.

Tsuna shrieked in surprise. What. Why were there so many famous people around him?  _What did he do to deserve this?_

"And what are you?" Tsuna demanded, turning to Dino.

The blond laughed. "I really am just an Officer, Tsuna. Don't be so alarmed."

Kawahira snorted. "If 'just an Officer' means one of the youngest and most talented Officers Sinnoh has ever had the pleasure of having, then yes, you're 'just an Officer.'"

Tsuna thunked his head on the table, uncaring if he got grease in his hair. After this, he was going to find a hotel room and take a long, long look at his recent life choices while crying in the shower.

* * *

Kawahira was nice enough to pay for Tsuna's hotel room, a large, luxurious space at the top floor overlooking the city. Jubilife looked much better in the soft glow of the nightlights, in Tsuna's opinion. It looked much less artificial and so much softer.

"We'll see you in the morning," Kawahira had said before leaving. "Rowan has to return to Sandgem Town to continue his research, and Xanxus and I have to return to the Elite Four soon. Breakfast will be at nine. There's a nice café right beside the hotel. We'll meet you there."

Kawahira seemed to take Tsuna's silence as confirmation and left Tsuna in the middle of the hotel lobby. A lobby that was obviously high-class. Tsuna had been afraid to even touch the buttons on the elevator.

Tsuna slumped on top of the bed's covers, and Reborn immediately appropriated a pillow and a third of the bed to sleep. Tsuna squawked.

"Reborn, you're filthy. Take a bath at least before you steal a pillow!"

Reborn rolled his eyes and pointedly snuggled even further into the plump cushion.

No, if there was  _one_ thing Tsuna would not have, it was a dirty Houndour.

"C'mon, let's go. I'll buy you treats tomorrow," Tsuna bribed. Reborn considered Tsuna seriously before hopping off the bed and trotting to the bathroom.

Actually…maybe all of his Pokemon needed baths. He made his way to the bathroom and closed the door, just in case any of them were averse to being clean and decided to escape. He gave the giant jacuzzi a thorough scrubbing and rinse (one never knew what kind of nasty business went on in hotel tubs) before filling it with warm water. Reborn glared at it distastefully.

"Just to get the dirt out of your fur," Tsuna soothed. Reborn didn't huffed and jumped into the tub before looking at Tsuna demandingly.  _'Well?'_ he seemed to ask. Tsuna rolled his eyes and squeezed some of the complimentary hotel bathwash onto Reborn's fur once it was wet. Tsuna tried really, really hard not to laugh at the grumpy Houndour covered in suds, looking the like least threatening canine in the world at the moment. Tsuna managed to swallow his laughter enough to quickly rinse Reborn off.

Once clean of both dirt and soap, Reborn grudgingly splashed water at Tsuna, leapt out, and shook his body, getting the floor and Tsuna wet.

"Reborn!" Tsuna yelped.

"Dour," Reborn replied, opened the door through magical and mysterious means, and made himself at home on the bed.

Tsuna hoped that everyone else liked being bathed.

It turned out, the experience was mildly traumatizing. Yamamoto was, by far, the easiest to deal with, since he already spent all his time in the water and only required a quick rinse. Ryohei reveled in the tub, floating around and happily splashing. Who knew that Shroomish floated in water? Ryohei and Yamamoto started a water fight, but Yamamoto had an unfair advantage over the Shroomish and quickly won that altercation.

Mukuro raised an eyebrow skeptically when Tsuna turned to him.

"Er…do Gastly even need to be washed?" he asked. Mukuro only floated straight out of the bathroom to loom in front of the window overlooking the city.

Gokudera and Lambo were, by far, the most problematic. Gokudera had little fondness for water anyways, being a rock type, and apparently Aron had small little nooks and crannies between their joints that dirt loved to get caked in. Tsuna sternly ordered the poor, whining Pokemon to "soak, Arceus dammit, you're never going to get clean if you don't  _soak_. _"_ After a good while of scolding and puppy dog looks from Gokudera, Tsuna managed, somehow, to make his metal exterior shine.

Lambo just had a fondness of shocking the water, and wool was surprisingly hard to clean. Tsuna frowned. Wait, technically wool wasn't supposed to be washed, right? Didn't it, like, shrink or something?

Every time Tsuna tried to lather the wash into the Mareep's fur, Lambo gave a tiny little zap. Tsuna was highly doubtful it was accidental. When the electric Pokemon was rinsed off and dried, Tsuna noticed that yes, Lambo  _did_ seem a little…er, constricted in his coat.

Tsuna thus learned Lambo and water combined was  _not_ a good idea in any way.

But despite all his struggles, each of his Pokemon ended the night being squeaky clean, rid of all the grease and oil and grime of a week's travel on a ship. Tsuna was soaked, but that didn't really matter since he was about to take a shower anyways. He stripped, much to Yamamoto's amusement ("Stop  _staring_ , that's creepy.") and showered with the Horsea floating happily in the jacuzzi.

Tsuna sighed under the hot water. Overall, it'd been a good day. He was finally on dry, solid land, he'd managed to convince the Pokemon Champion (and he  _still_ couldn't get over the fact that he'd met  _the Pokemon Champion_ that was  _amazing_ ) and Professor Rowan to let him keep all his Pokemon,  _and_ he had his hotel room paid for.

Yeah, it wasn't a bad day.

He went through his nightly ritual, brushing his teeth and digging out a soft bathrobe from the closet, before turning the lights down and settling under the covers. Reborn grunted irritably from where he was half asleep. His Pokemon, as usual, had managed to all pile into his bed, leaving only a small corner to himself.

As he was just about to drift asleep, Mukuro floated over, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face.

"Gastly," Mukuro said softly.

Tsuna waved a hand at the floating ball of gas. His fingers brushed through the Gastly's body, slightly cold but strangely comforting.

"Y'wanna talk?" Tsuna slurred.

Between one blink and the next, Tsuna found himself in that strange, purple dream again.

"Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna turned to see just Mukuro standing there, hands in his pockets.

"Where's Chrome?" Tsuna asked.

"Asleep. I wanted to talk to you alone."

Well, that was ominous. Unlike Chrome, Mukuro still didn't trust Tsuna much despite their frequent interactions and Tsuna's promises. Tsuna could understand, though. Years of experimentation did that to a Pokemon. "What's up?"

Mukuro seemed to struggle with his words, which was a first. He always seemed so full of emotions and words, whether they be scathing or darkly amused. Finally, a sneer twisted at his lips. "Why didn't you give us up?"

Tsuna's eyebrows jumped. "Why would I have?" He didn't ask how Mukuro had known what had happened that day despite being in a Pokeball the whole time. He'd learned not to question Mukuro's uncanny ability to just  _know_ things. It was probably a ghost thing, or Reborn had told him.

"We could have been the key to defeating mutant Pokemon. If the League can get their hands on how we were made, they can learn to disassemble the experiments they come across, maybe even reverse the process. You could have just condemned hundreds of Pokemon to death." Mukuro's words were harsh and bitter, and seemingly ungrateful.

Tsuna sighed and fluffed his hair to give his hands something to do. "I explained it to Professor Rowan before, but I'll tell you again." Tsuna looked up at the taller male, eyes narrowed. "I know what you've been through, and I don't want to subject you to that again. I promised to myself that I'd protect all of you to the best of my ability."

"Who said we wanted your protection?" Mukuro snapped.

"Nobody," Tsuna replied calmly. "But did you really want to go with the Professor?"

"We don't need or want your help."

"But you have it anyways."

Mukuro fell sullenly silent. He glared at the trainer, one eye gleaming red, the same one Chrome was missing.

"You're going to get yourself hurt if you insist on protecting everyone you can," Mukuro warned, but it was half-hearted at best.

Tsuna smiled and stepped closer. He took one of Mukuro's hands. His skin was cool and pale, long-fingered and slim. "I think I'll manage keeping up with you guys, at least."

Mukuro scoffed, yanked his hand away, and dissolved into the mist.

Despite Mukuro's harsh words and abrupt departure, though, Tsuna understood the meaning beneath it.

 _Thank you_.

* * *

Tsuna woke up to a sudden pressure on his stomach.

"Oof," Tsuna wheezed. Reborn smugly stepped on Tsuna and leapt to the ground. He sat and wagged his tail, tongue lolling out. "You know what you did wrong, don't act all innocent on me," Tsuna accused, rubbing his stomach.

He quickly began packing. His still damp clothes from yesterday went in a plastic bag to continue being dried wherever he slept tonight. He dug his spare pair of clothes out and quickly dressed in the bathroom.

"Yamamoto, rise and shine," Tsuna called through a toothbrush.

"Horsea," Yamamoto whined, eyes squinted open blearily. Tsuna found the sight adorable.

He began returning each of his Pokemon, and after making sure that the room was clean (always leave the room like you found it, his mother had lectured once), he made his way downstairs and returned his keys.

The café Kawahira had talked about yesterday was easily found. He, Professor Rowan, Xanxus, and Dino were seated already, delicate cups of tea and coffee ordered. Tsuna glanced at his brand new Poketch and winced. Five minutes late.

"Sorry I'm late. Good morning," Tsuna greeted as he pulled out a chair to sit down. Reborn looked up attentively at the table, waiting for scraps. Really, Tsuna was finding that as much as Reborn acted like a devil, he really was a canine at heart with a fondness for all human food.

"No worries," Dino said, way too cheerfully for the morning. The waiter came to take Tsuna's order and left a cup of chamomile tea in his wake. Tsuna inhaled the scent gratefully. "Since we'll be parting ways today, I figured we might as well have a breakfast goodbye."

Tsuna blinked. Oh right...Xanxus and Dino had finished their duty. Tsuna was surprised to find that he actually would kind of miss them.

Dino, with his friendly demeanor and charming attitude, easily became like a big brother figure to Tsuna. Tsuna never grew up with older kids looking after him, but if he had had one like Dino, there was no doubt that Tsuna would have grown up a less timid kid and a much happier one. He was compassionate and gentle and a wonderful teacher and spoke all the right words, especially when it came to Tsuna.

Xanxus, on the other hand, was just grumpy all day, every day. He glowered and sulked and carried on with his life like it was his job to scare everybody. But the man was also fierce, dedicated, and determined. He had a no-nonsense attitude and didn't take crap from anybody. Tsuna could admire someone like that, despite all his rough edges. Tsuna was also still curious about  _why_ Xanxus had had to learn how to fight dirty and how he had gotten the scar across his left cheek, but he knew everyone needed their distance. Tsuna wouldn't pry.

"I'll miss you guys," Tsuna said, heartfelt.

Dino smiled widely, teeth sparkling in the sun, and ruffled Tsuna's fluffy hair. "Aw, I'll miss you too, kiddo."

Xanxus looked like he didn't know what to do with this information. He settled for tsking and held out a hand demandingly.

"What?" Tsuna asked, puzzled.

"Give me your hand."

Dino squealed like a teenage girl. " _Are you asking for Tsuna's hand in marriage?_ "

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU TALKING ABOUT, SHITSTAIN?!" Xanxus roared, making all activity in their proximity startle to a halt at the volume. Xanxus glared them all into submission between trying to kill Dino with his eyes. "You fucker, I'm going to strangle you with your own entrails."

"Don't be shy now." Dino fluttered his lashes. "I'm sure Tsuna will agree to your proposal."

Tsuna put his face in his hands. Why would he miss them, again?

"Boys," Kawahira interjected mildly, like this was an everyday occurrence. Which was probably, actually, kind of true.

Rowan was laughing uproariously. "I'd forgotten how well you two got along.

" _I was asking for the fucker's Poketch, fuckmunch,"_ Xanxus hissed venomously at Dino, who was laughing uncontrollably.

"How sweet! So he grew on you, and now you want to keep in touch?" Dino teased, but he grabbed Tsuna's wrist like he was a doll and flicked through the screens before he came upon the phone app. There were some faint beeps, a bit of poking, and when Tsuna reacquired his hand, he found Dino's number etched into it.

"Oh, that's not a bad idea," Professor Rowan hummed. Tsuna was then passed like a rag doll around the table (with deep, growled threats from Xanxus about what he would do to the teen if he ever gave out the Elite Four's number,  _under pain of death_ ). When he was deposited back in his seat, he found himself with four new numbers in his phone, two of which belonged to the strongest trainers in Sinnoh.

Tsuna's Poketch was probably the most valuable thing he owned right now.

Professor Rowan finished his coffee and stood. "Well, thank you for the wonderful time, gentlemen. I need to return to Sandgem to continue my research. I wish you the best of luck, and you know where to find me if you need me."

"Have a safe journey," Kawahira said pleasantly.

Rowan nodded. "And you." He turned to Tsuna and stuck out a hand. Tsuna scrambled to his street and shook it clumsily. "It was good to meet you, young man. It's truly heartening to see a trainer so caring of his Pokemon. I hope we have a chance to meet again."

"T-Thanks," Tsuna mumbled. "Bye, Professor."

Rowan waved goodbye and disappeared down a grey street.

Their breakfast arrived, and Tsuna began digging into his waffles, occasionally offering bits of bacon to Reborn to appease his wrath.

"You've got a demanding Pokemon," Kawahira commented as he watched Reborn snap a bit too close to Tsuna's fingertips.

"He's technically not my Pokemon. I never caught him really," Tsuna explained. He poured a truly obscene amount of syrup on his waffles. Xanxus looked disgusted.

"That's rather unusual. You are a trainer, correct? Now that you're in Sinnoh, do you plan to stay a while?" Kawahira asked, likewise dumping half a bottle of ketchup on his eggs. Xanxus looked doubly disgusted and mildly scandalized.

"Fucking heathens," Xanxus growled over his eggs benedict.

"We could really use your help." Kawahira happily stuck a forkful of his monstrosity of a breakfast into his mouth. He relished in the taste for a bit before continuing, "You wouldn't even have to do much. Just stick around the region, maybe take up the trainer challenge, acquire some badges, and keep your ears wide open for anything of interest."

Tsuna coughed uncomfortably. "I was actually hoping to go back to Hoenn." And he had, really. The past week had been fun, but he couldn't see himself wandering around the wilderness of Sinnoh. He missed his mom. "And, well, this is awkward, but…um, I don't really have a Trainer Card or license."

"What?" Dino exclaimed. "I thought you were a trainer all along!"

"Not really."

"You haven't challenged any gyms, have you?" Kawahira asked, eyes sharp behind his glasses. "Because that's illegal. We register our trainers for a reason."

"Definitely not. N-No badges," Tsuna reassured. Reborn huffed a mocking laugh, and Tsuna aimed a surreptitious kick at him, which the Houndour, naturally, dodged. "Never battled a Gym Leader before."

"Good," Dino said firmly. Tsuna hoped the Officer never caught wind of his misdeeds. "I guess I should have asked before bringing you with us, but that's behind us now. We'll get you one after breakfast."

Tsuna sighed in relief. Yeah, it'd be nice to have one so he didn't have to worry about being arrested all the time.

They finished their breakfast in pleasant conversation, and just as they stood to leave for the Officer station, there was a distant  _boom_.

The ground shook, making Tsuna stumble into Dino, who steadied him. The cutlery and plates on the table clattered ominously.

"What the…" Kawahira muttered. There was a distant scream, and everyone looked up to see smoke wafting through the air. People began panicking, either running away from the site of an unseen fire or towards it out of curiosity.

Dino's grip on Tsuna tightened to an almost painful degree. His face was grim, out of place on the handsome man's face, and his eyes hard. Xanxus snarled a curse.

"With me," Kawahira ordered, steel laced in his tone. Tsuna could suddenly see how and why he had become the Champion.

As they began making their way towards the smoke, intercoms above the city blared to life.

_"Attention, ladies and gentlemen of Jubilife City! My name is Spade Daemon, a Commander of Team Genesis. You may have heard of us on the news recently, yes? I have come with a message._

_"We currently are holding those inside the Jubilife TV station hostage. If you do not wish for harm to befall them, surrender your Pokemon peacefully and silently, lest you find several members of your community permanently lost."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daily updates will not be happening from now on. I'm heading back to work tomorrow and will have less time to write now. Thank you for reading, though!


	9. Chapter 9

_“Do I have your attention now?”_ The intercoms blasted the man’s voice across Jubilife City.  As they made their way towards the TV station, Tsuna passed several panicking people yelling at their Poketches for friends and family.

“Stay at the Trainers’ School, okay, sweetie?  Don’t go anywhere.”  A woman, presumably a mother, rushed past them, relief clear on her face.  Several paces away, a man had sunk onto a bench, hand pressed against his mouth as tears dripped down his face.

“We need to hurry,” Kawahira murmured.  Tensioned lined his frame, and his lips were pursed shut as he took long and purposeful strides towards the station.  Tsuna had to jog to keep up with them.

“Why would they attack _now_?” Dino asked.  “We aren’t inconspicuous.  They must have something up their sleeves if they’re willing to commit such a large scale crime with two Pokemon League trainers in the city.”

Xanxus snorted, and a fierce smile began spreading across his face.  “Who the fuck cares?  We kick their asses and we capture a Commander.”

“Whichever _fool_ planned this, it works in our favor,” Kawahira concurred.

When they arrived, though, the situation wasn’t as simple as they had expected.

A giant hole had been blown into the side of the building, likely the source of the explosion.  Burnt and melted metal was bent inwards, live wires that had been ripped roughly out of the wall sparking wildly.  Positioned at the opening were multiple men and women in Team Genesis uniforms, each sporting Pokemon that glared at the crowd hostilely.

Attached to the Jubilife TV station was a giant screen, with a bright red ‘LIVE’ flashing in the lower right corner.  Tsuna had seen it earlier from the air sporting different ads and entertainment shows.  Now, though, it was focused on a tall man with spiked blue hair and dark blue eyes.  He was rather pale and wearing a long blue coat that swept to his knees.  A self-assured smirk was plastered across his handsome face as he looked down at the screen.  He looked uncannily like Mukuro and Chrome.

What Tsuna saw beside him, though, was what really froze the blood in Tsuna’s veins.

A small group of people sat huddled beside his legs.  Their mouths were bound in white cloth, tears in their eyes, frozen and afraid to move.  Pacing around them, like a pendulum, was a large, dark blue furred creature.  Its fur was spiked out wildly around its head like a mane, out of which stuck two light blue round ears.  Over its face was a metal mask that curved cruelly over a mouth full of sharp, metal fangs.  Each step was accompanied by the _click, click, click_ of oversized metal claws.

“What is _that_?” Dino asked, horrified.  “It looks like a Luxray, but…”

“But mutated,” Kawahira finished tersely. 

 _“Tut tut, don’t think of attacking, or else dear Primo will tear these poor civilians limb, by, limb,”_ Daemon purred.  The Luxray’s growl rattled around its metal mask. 

Tsuna saw the grunts shift uncomfortably, and one held up a small device that he spoke through.  Daemon’s smile suddenly morphed into a frown and he focused his attention somewhere far off, as if listening intently to something.  He held his hand to his ear, where a small black device was attached.  The frown deepened, and his attention focused back on the camera. 

 _“It seems we have some unusual visitors.  Apparently the esteemed Pokemon Champion Kawahira and dark type Elite Four Xanxus have joined us.  Well, this was outside my plans.”_ He pursed his lips unhappily and glanced back at his Luxray and the hostages. _“No matter,”_ Daemon muttered, a slow smile slithering across his face.  “ _Will they dare act, I wonder, with lives on the line?”_

At an unspoken signal, the Luxray lunged, bowling over a hostage.  Its claws sank into the woman’s shoulders, but her gag muffled her screams.  Its maw opened, saliva dripping down long, glistening fangs.  Just as it was poised for a Crunch, Daemon gave a sharp whistle, halting it in its tracks.  It retreated slowly, obediently, and resumed its pacing.  The woman scooted backwards hastily, tears flowing down her cheeks.

 _“Well, I won’t kill anyone yet,”_ Daemon said carelessly, holding out his hands and shrugging dramatically.  He shook his head slowly, “ _But who knows what will happen if anyone interferes?  Drop off all of your Pokemon in their Pokeballs in front of this building.  That’s all we require, and everyone goes free.”_

The bystanders still hovering around the station turned towards Kawahira and Xanxus as one, and they started whispering at each other, slowly rising in volume.  Tsuna was suddenly pushed out of the way by a man.

“Please, you have to help us, my son is in there!” the man begged, hands reaching to clutch onto Kawahira’s kimono.

Another woman screamed, _“_ My _husband_ is right there on the screen!  You have to do something!”

Xanxus’ expression kept getting darker and darker, but Tsuna suspected it wasn’t because of the hostage situation.  One brave soul grabbed his shoulder, but Xanxus only twitched violently.  He glowered at the owner of said appendage.  “ _Don’t touch me._ ”

“Please, you have to calm down,” Kawahira announced over the growing panic.  “We have this situation under control, so please let us do our job.”

“My _child_ ,” someone stressed.

Xanxus visibly held himself back from attacking them, ire bubbling and rising like a volcano.  His hands began to clench as the crowd pressed around them, invaded their space.

Someone grabbed Tsuna’s bicep.  He yanked it back and lashed out, but his elbow was caught easily.

“Come with me,” Dino hissed, tugged again.  Tsuna allowed himself to be dragged away from the two Pokemon League trainers.  Dino brought them over one street and into an alley, where they were hidden in the shadows between two buildings.

“W-What are we going to do?” Tsuna stuttered.  He wrung his hands.  Even Reborn was sitting straight-backed, eyes focused on Dino.  “People could die in there!”

“It was smart of him to call out Kawahira and Xanxus like that,” Dino muttered, tuning out Tsuna’s worrying.  “It draws attention to them, so now they’re unable to sneak around behind Team Genesis’ backs.”  Dino tched, thumb drifting up to his mouth unconsciously, where he began chewing his skin with his teeth.  Seeing this act of vulnerability only made Tsuna feel worse.  “Their hands are tied.  They can’t do anything now without everyone knowing about it.”

“But you can,” Tsuna intuited.  He grabbed Dino’s hand away from his mouth and shook it slightly.  “ _You_ can.  If everyone’s focused on them, they won’t notice you sneaking about.”

“I’m only one person,” Dino argued, “with much weaker Pokemon than either of them.  The only entrance to that building right now is the hole they blew into the side of it.  I can’t do anything.”

“There can’t be only _one_ entrance,” Tsuna argued.  “No building only has one set of doors.  Engineering a building like that is stupid, what are people supposed to do in case of an emergency?”

Dino blinked slowly down at Tsuna as if realizing something.  “ _I_ can’t do anything,” he said slowly, coming to a realization, “but you can.”

Tsuna blanched.  “M-Me?!”

Dino waved absent mindedly at the building, staring at it although his brain was clearly a hundred kilometers away.  “The vents.  I can’t fit in the vents, but you can.”

Tsuna’s stomach dropped.  “You want me to infiltrate a heavily guarded building through the _vents_?!”  _Are you crazy?_ went unsaid.

“Well, _I_ can’t certainly fit in there,” Dino replied defensively.  “I don’t like this either, Tsuna, but you’ll have to.  Get in there, scout out the enemies.  How many hostages, how many people, how many Pokemon you see.  You’re a smart kid with a scary sharp intuition, see if you can spot any weaknesses.”

Tsuna felt like someone had just told him that they expected him to face Arceus unarmed.  “ _You’re crazy_.”

“Can you think of any other idea?” Dino shouted, temper spiking.  Tsuna shrank from the uncommonly angry man.  Dino took a deep, shuddering breath and covered his eyes with a hand.  “I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have shouted.”

“W-We’re all stressed,” Tsuna excused.  He gnawed on a lip, and a burst of iron on his tongue told him he’d broken skin.  “What after, though?  Say I do come tell you that information.  What after?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Dino said firmly.  His eyes narrowed at Jubilife TV station.  “We’ll have to be quick about it though.  We don’t know when Spade might start killing hostages.  We might have to convince people to actually start surrendering their Pokemon to buy time.”

“This is a horrible idea.”

“It’s our only choice.  Scout it out, and then we act.  I’ll start brainstorming,” Dino murmured.  He stepped back out onto the large street.  The moment Tsuna left the alley, it felt like all the noise of the city rushed back in a blur of screams and anger.  “Follow me.”

They took several backroads, edging around the crowd until they were out of everyone’s eyesight.  Near the back of the Jubilife TV station, they found an unobserved spot.  Dino squinted at the edge of the roof against the sun. 

“Hopefully they didn’t put anyone up there.”  He dug a Pokeball from his belt and released a familiar large brown bird.  “Ivan, take Tsuna up to the roof, then come back.  _Remain unseen_.”

The Noctowl clenched one large claw against Tsuna’s skinny arm, the other around Reborn’s small torso.  Tsuna hurriedly shrugged off his backpack and threw it at Dino, who caught it and set it on the ground.

“How will Xanxus and Kawahira know?” Tsuna asked.  His heart was beating fast in his chest, blood rushing through his veins. 

Dino waved his wrist, which sported a yellow Poketch.  “I’ll message them.  I can’t get near them, or my cover’ll get blown.  I’m sorry for dragging you into our business again.”

Tsuna shook his head, which made him woozily realize that the fear and stress was making him faint.  “No problem,” he lied.

The ground fell away from his feet, and a short ride later, his knees collided with harsh metal as his legs buckled beneath the impact.  Reborn landed on crouched legs.  Ivan hooted softly before leaving as quickly as he arrived.  His silent flight was eerie, especially against the chaos in front of the building.

The good news was, the room was empty.  The bad news was, the roof was empty.  Tsuna frowned at the smooth floor, not spotting any conspicuous holes or metal meshing covering a possible vent.  Reborn paced along the edges of the building, ears cocked and nose to the ground, as if looking for something.  He wandered to a corner, where he barked quietly but sharply.  Beneath his feet, Tsuna noticed, was a metal grate, almost seamlessly merged with the rooftop.

“Nice,” Tsuna praised Reborn.  The Houndour only smugly grinned.  Tsuna found a little catch in the seam of the lid, and he lifted it with a faint screeching noise.  He glanced around, but thankfully nobody seemed to notice it over the shouting of the crowd.

Tsuna peered into the dark drop and exchanged a look with Reborn.  Reborn’s _‘after you’_ made him swallow harshly.  With one last look at the blue sky and prayers on his tongue, he eased himself over the rim until only his fingers were clinging to the side.

“I-I’m not so sure about _thiiiiiis!_ ” Tsuna cut off his cry when something that felt suspiciously like little Houndour teeth nipped at his fingers, making him release the edge and drop several meters.  He slid against the side of the vent, which leveled off at a split, one path heading straight, the other heading right.  Behind him, there was the faint skitter of claws against metal, and Reborn crashed rather clumsily into Tsuna.

 _“Hey, you hear that?”_ drifted from an opening in the vent.  Metal bars were slanted across the opening, leaving only thin slits to peer through.  Tsuna shushed Reborn and crawled silently until he was hovering over the beams of light.

Below him stood two Team Genesis grunts.  They were positioned near a door, standing side by side, probably to act as guards. 

“Stop freaking me out.”  A man, tall and lanky and dressed in the blue uniform, scowled.  He shifted, and at his feet a red, bug like Pokemon with a ridiculous moustache and brandishing green, oversized metal scythes shifted.  It scratched against the floor with a _shnick, schnick,_ tearing the carpet to ribbons.  Tsuna gulped.

“I’m already freaked out, man.  The Commander moved this raid up by a week cuz he was too eager to please the Boss, but I think the Boss’ll just be mad,” the other man, more heavily built in a way that reminded Tsuna of a brick, grumped.  “A whole week!  Not all of us got kitted out in new Pokemon.  I think the Commander jumped the gun.”

“Shut up, you want him to hear us?” Tall and Lanky hissed.  He glanced at the door as if expecting it to open any minute.  “If he thinks we’re ready, we’re probably ready.”

“Yeah, but did you hear?  Two from the damned Pokemon League are _right outside the building_ ,” Brickman said.  He shifted when the Pokemon chittered melodically.  Green started creeping up from its scythes to the rest of its body.  _Another mutant,_ Tsuna realized.  “Even with these Pokemon, we aren’t gonna stand a chance against them.”

“That’s what the hostages are for.” Tall and Lanky rolled his eyes.  “You think they’re going to just attack us when the Commander could lop off their heads in a second?”

“I just don’t like it,” Brickman said, scuffing his feet against the carpet and nudging against a flap of felt the bug Pokemon had ripped up.

“Just think about the free week we’ll have,” Tall and Lanky assured.  He smirked.  “Haven’t you been looking to take that girl of yours out for a while?  You’ll have the time to bring her on a real date.”

Brickman flushed as bright as Tsuna’s assigned nickname, but a big, silly smile spread across his face.  “Yeah,” he said, dreamily.  “It’ll be nice.  Finally can get away from this business for a while, spend some time with the family.”

Tsuna shuffled away from the gossiping duo and took a left so that he’d be right above the room they had been guarding.  There was another grate only a couple of meters further.  Tsuna crept on his stomach until his nose was pressed against it, Reborn a warm weight at his side. 

Daemon stood almost directly below him.  To his left the hostages and the still pacing Luxray.  Back and forth, back and forth, steadily.  Daemon was watching a small TV screen.  Tsuna couldn’t see what it was showing, but he assumed the crowd in front of the station was being monitored. 

“Yes, that includes you too, Champion.  Please drop off your Pokeballs in a cart, be a dear for these sweet, scared men and women, hm?” Daemon asked.  “I, personally, would feel so much safer if you were separated from your Pokemon.  If you would be so kind as to comply, I’m sure these wonderful men and women will return without a scratch.”

There seemed to only be the one Luxray out of its Pokeball at the moment, although there was a second Pokeball attached to Daemon’s belt.  Six hostages and one free man on the fourth floor, guarded by two grunts.  Tsuna memorized the information and scooted backwards as quietly as he could to report to Dino.

His elbow banged into the side of the vent.

Daemon’s head jerked up, eyes narrowed.  The Luxray _leapt,_ claws outstretched and shining in the artificial lights.  With a mighty swing and the sound of metal ripping like paper, it tore apart the ceiling.  Tsuna fell through the hole, the edges of the vent catching on his arms and tearing his skin.

He landed with a painful _thud_.  Pain shot through the shoulder he landed on, and his head cracked against the carpet. 

“Well, now, what do we have here?” Daemon asked, attention switched from the TV and focused on Tsuna like a raptor staring at its prey.  The Luxray screeched behind its metal mask, simultaneously muffled and more disturbing than any cry Tsuna had ever heard before.  Daemon’s feet nudged Tsuna’s ribs, inciting another wave of pain through his side.  “Has a little Rattata come out to play?”

Tsuna stumbled to his feet while Reborn leapt from the vent, legs spread and ready to attack or defend.  He growled, smoking already drifting from his jaws, but compared to the giant Luxray, he seemed so little.

Tsuna grit his teeth and tried to paste as innocent a grin as possible, although he suspected it came out more as a grimace.  “Would you believe me if I said I stumbled in on accident?”

“Amusing!  But no, I wouldn’t,” Daemon replied.  He negligently waved a hand at Tsuna, and his next sentence chilled Tsuna to the bone.  “Get rid of him, then, Primo, quickly.”

The Luxray lunged and was met in the air viciously by Reborn.  Despite the Luxray’s size, Reborn was smaller, quicker, and more controlled in his actions.  He ducked and weaved agilely between the Luxray’s thundering paws.

Tsuna winced and simultaneously threw all his Pokeballs but Yamamoto’s on the ground, flooding the room with red light.  Yamamoto wouldn’t fare well with no source of water, but everyone else would be in fighting shape.

Besides, there were no rules about one on one battles in the real world, were there?  Even with Yamamoto out of the picture, Tsuna had the advantage in numbers.  Xanxus’ lessons had come in handy after all.

Daemon looked entirely too amused despite the odd numbers.  “You think little first evolution Pokemon will stop Primo?  Let me even out the count a little, then.  Secondo!”

He retrieved the other Pokeball strapped to his belt, and out came a Charizard, but looking all wrong.  Its usual red hide was scarred by deep burns in a jagged pattern, like lightning had cracked against its skin.  It had sparse black stripes across its back, and its horns faded to yellow, with bulbs at the ends of each.

It roared, and electricity crackled in its mouth.

“I had to capture a great many Shinx and Charmander before I finally created these masterpieces.  Let’s see how long you last, little trainer,” Daemon taunted.

Reborn was preoccupied with dueling with the Luxray, but Gokudera took on the Charizard with Lambo.  Lambo shrieked and released uncontrolled sparks of electricity that made no visible impact on the course of battle, shrilly screeching with each lash of the Charizard’s tail.  One particularly vicious swing impacted with Lambo’s side, throwing him into the wall.  Lambo didn’t get up again.

Barely twenty seconds into the battle, and already Lambo was out for the count.  Tsuna recalled him with trembling fingers.

Tsuna glanced around and analyzed the situation frantically.  Gokudera was holding up surprisingly well.  He was dodging deceptively agilely for such a small, clunky Pokemon.  Tsuna was outmatched, drastically, but maybe…

“Gokudera, keep on the Charizard.  Ryohei, Chrome, Reborn, take out that Luxray!” Tsuna barked.

Daemon snickered.  “Is the wee little trainer giving out orders?  Cute.”

Ryohei was releasing Stun Spores, doing his best to dodge each of the Luxray’s swipes.  One had caught one of his pink petals, clipping off a section.  Green liquid was starting to ooze from it.  Reborn was holding up admirably, but even he was growing exhausted, a bit slower, a bit less sharp with his movements.  Tsuna knew that he wouldn’t last much longer.

Chrome though…

Chrome was floating, stock still, and staring at Daemon with honest to Arceus _hatred_ in her eyes.  Tsuna had never seen such emotion from the Gastly in their short acquaintanceship.

“Oh?” Daemon asked, finally noticing the light blue Gastly.  His eyebrows rose.  “Well, look at who we have here.  Isn’t it experiment No. 96?”

Chrome screamed, and the room began darkening.  The hostages gave muffled cries of horror and shrank against a corner, still relatively unharmed despite the chaos.  Chrome began burning in the dim lighting, a bright blue, sparkling will-o’-the-wisp.  Shadows grew on the walls.  Tsuna recognized the beginnings of a Night Shade, but unlike a regular one, it was generalized to affect an entire area, and ridiculously stronger than the typical Night Shade too.

“Why, if it isn’t my pet project,” Daemon continued, unfazed.  “I remember when I created you.  Too bad my lab was raided in my absence.  You were one of my favorites.”

Daemon twirled a strand of hair around his finger consideringly, but after a bit of contemplation shook his head in mock sadness.

“Too bad, though.  You’ve been replaced with newer and better models,” Daemon said, spreading his arms to indicate his mutant Pokemon.  They also seemed affected by the Night Shade, shaking their heads irritably as if trying to get rid of some phantom image.  “I’m afraid I have no use for outdated specimens like you.”

Chrome threw herself at the man.  Tsuna also darted at the Commander, his bad shoulder crashing into the man’s legs.  Pain screamed through his body as he knocked over the man.

Daemon grunted in surprise and roughly shoved at Tsuna, throwing Tsuna to the ground.  The Commander staggered.

There was a whine, and Reborn skidded across the carpet, coming to a stop in an unconscious heap beside Tsuna.  Gokudera and Ryohei met similar fates soon.  Tsuna could see the Charizard opening its mouth, fire and electricity sparking on its tongue.

The wall blew inwards, throwing the two experimental Pokemon and Daemon off balance.

Kawahira stood on a giant, dark blue dragon with a red underbelly and a shark fin on its back.  It roared.

“Genkishi, Dragon Rush!” Kawahira yelled over the sound of crumbling plaster.

The dragon threw its whole body at Secondo, crashing through another wall.  There were screams and yells.  The air abruptly grew chilly.

“Luss, Ice Beam!” Tsuna heard Xanxus yell, and a Weavile opened its mouth wide before a blinding column of ice and wind encased the Luxray in a solid block of ice.

Daemon hissed a curse.  He roughly knocked Tsuna away and ran towards the Charizard.  “Primo, Secondo!” he barked.

“Stop him!” Tsuna yelled, but the dust made him choke and cough.  Nobody heard him over the noise and chaos.

Daemon climbed onto the Charizard’s back and recalled the frozen Luxray. 

“Tch, a failure.”  Daemon kicked his foot into the joint of the Charizard’s wing.  It let out an ear shattering roar and took to the skies.  “I’ll see you again, children.  Play nice!”

“Kawa-” Tsuna coughed, trying to get their attention through the dust and plaster in the air.  However, he couldn’t pick up their figures through his watering eyes.  Where was the Champion?!

“I’ve got him,” Xanxus growled, and he released his Honchkrow.  “Fran, let’s go!”

They took off.  Each beat of Fran’s wings cleared the dust more and more, giving them a clear view of the retreating Charizard’s back.

The giant bird was only several meters into the air when a burst of electric fire shot at them.  The Charizard had stopped momentarily to take aim at them.  Xanxus and Fran slowed, the Honchkrow unable to pick up speed due to its passenger, and Xanxus cursed.  “Fucking smug ass piece of shit,” Xanxus snarled.  They swerved wildly when another blast of electricity struck Fran’s wing.  It screeched and dropped like a rock towards the ground.  Fortunately, it wasn’t a far fall.

Kawahira waved his hand through the air, squinting from behind his glasses that were covered in a thin brown film.  He took them off to clean, mouth twisted in a dissatisfied moue. 

Tsuna breathed out.  His ribs ached, he was pretty sure something went very wrong in his shoulder, and he was getting dizzy from a very possible concussion.  He laid on the floor, staring up at the ripped ceiling, where he’d fallen through the vent.

Kawahira squatted, and beside him his Pokemon held out its hands.  “We need to get you and your Pokemon to the hospital as soon as possible.”

Tsuna was lifted with deceptive gentleness into Genkishi’s arms and blacked out before he even made it out of the building.

* * *

His dream was dark.  Pitch blackness spread out in every direction, but Tsuna was surprised to see there was no purple mist.

“Chrome?  Mukuro!” Tsuna yelled.  His voice echoed endlessly, but there was no presence of either Pokemon.

He began walking in a random direction.  His feet touched nothing, and nothing of his surroundings moved.  He felt like he was just waving his legs uselessly.

What happened?  Were they okay?  Where did they go, after Kawahira and Xanxus had arrived?  Tsuna nibbled at his lip and kept walking.

In the distance, he saw a small lump, just floating there.  As he got closer, he wished he hadn’t.  There were two children, limbs intertwined with thick silver chains.  They both had long hair that floated like they were suspended in water, with masks fastened over their noses and mouths.  An IV line intertwined with the chains and the children, wrapped around their necks.  One child had a mutilated right eye, and the other’s right eye was scarred and puffed, an irritated red.

“Mukuro?  Chrome?” Tsuna called softly.  He reached out a hand, and his fingertips skimmed one of their faces.

“You should leave them alone.”

The two figures disappeared with a pop.  Tsuna looked to the side to see Mukuro and Chrome.  The girl’s face was buried in Mukuro’s clothes, fingers clenched and shaking.  Her shoulders were trembling.  Mukuro’s face was stony.

“A-Are you okay?” Tsuna asked tentatively and immediately regretted his question.  Of course they weren’t okay.

Mukuro closed his eyes.  “Do you want to know how they combined us?” he asked.  He hugged Chrome tightly.  “I invaded his sleep, once, to try to scare him.  I wanted him to let us go, or make him abandon his stupid fusion project.  I was young and naïve, and wholly unprepared for it.

“He turned the dream against me.  He’s a very bitter man, and he’s lost so much.”  Mukuro breathed deeply, although in the dream, he didn’t need it.  “His mind…it was dark.  Hopeless.  I was lost the moment I stepped foot inside of it, and he turned it around on me.  Incapacitated me in his own mind, with my own attack.

“He figured out how to manipulate Pokemon consciousness because of me,” Mukuro spat.  “Psychics and ghosts were the easiest test subjects, mostly because their intelligence matches human intelligence the most.  All he needed was a willing ghost or psychic, and he could invade Pokemon’s minds and perform his experiments.

“He figured out how to fuse consciousness.  Something about the mind and the body being tied together, I never truly understood, but he used me as his main test subject because I was powerful and resilient.  There were five before Chrome.  Chrome was the sixth, the most flexible and weak of his subjects, so one day, he took her eye and put it in mine.”

Tsuna only listened quietly.  If helping Mukuro and Chrome work through their trauma would help them, then he’d stay and _listen_ , even if he felt like vomiting.

“He tried to form a connection using our consciences.  Our physical bodies joined into a single form because of the connection, but our minds remained separate.  Those _other_ experiments,” Mukuro sneered, “he must have somehow completely fused them.  They were insane and feral, with little intelligence even for a Pokemon.  Just wild beasts.  It’s _disgusting_.”

Tsuna was speechless.  He wanted to say something, anything, but what could he say?  That he’d make them forget the past?  That he’d do better?  That he’d keep them and never do something so horrible to them? 

No, they already knew that.  The only thing that could heal this kind of wound was time.

Tsuna closed his eyes and dipped his head.  Mukuro understood him anyways.

“Just leave us alone for a while,” Mukuro said, almost gently.  “Don’t call us.  We’ll come when we’re ready.”

They faded before Tsuna, one scarred little boy wrapped around a scared girl protectively, like they were the only two left in the world.

* * *

Tsuna woke up bright sunlight shining painfully against his eyelids.  His mouth was dry and tasted like a Zigzagoon had gone and died in his mouth.  He hefted himself up onto one arm, and something tugged at the crook of his elbow.  A small needle attached to a line led up to a bag of clear saline hanging from a metal rod.  A headache seared through his head, making him gag with nausea.  Both of his arms were wrapped tightly, and Tsuna could feel the dull pounding of the lacerations underneath.  At the foot of his bed, Reborn was curled, breathing in, out, in, out, a reassuring rhythm that made the panic in Tsuna’s throat recede a little.

He was lying in a stretcher being wheeled towards the entrance of the Pokecenter.  There were various other people, some injured, some helping people limp to their destination, and others carrying injured Pokemon.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” the paramedic wheeling his stretcher said briskly.  He got them into the Pokecenter, where people were piled into waiting chairs.  Several beds holding people in various states of injury were lined against the walls.  “You have a concussion.  Stay put while someone comes to check you out.”

“M-My Pokemon?” Tsuna croaked.  His voice cracked.  He scrabbled against his belt, where only Yamamoto and Lambo were stored.  Lambo needed medical attention too.

The man shook his head.  “I don’t know, young man.  You’d best be worried about yourself first.”

Reborn lifted his head wearily.  He didn’t look hurt, and he moved with relative ease.  Hopefully only a few bruises then.

Tsuna held out his arms pleadingly, desperately wishing for some kind of comfort, and Reborn curled in them snugly, head rested on Tsuna’s chest as if listening for a heartbeat.

They waited seconds, minutes, hours.  Patients, both Pokemon and human, where brought in and out, crying and distressed.  It all passed in a blur, measured only the breaths Reborn took.  In, out, in, out.

“Tsuna!”

Tsuna looked up drunkenly to see Dino rushing towards him, relieved.  Trailing behind him were Gokudera and Ryohei.  Mukuro and Chrome were nowhere to be seen.

Dino arrived at his bedside, harried and weary.  “Good thing I found you.  I’ve got the rest of your Pokemon, but I have no idea where your Gastly went.”

 _“Don’t call us_.”  Their wishes echoed in his mind.

“That’s fine,” Tsuna said.  He sat up, but he wavered as Reborn slid down to his lap and vertigo hit him.

“You’ve got a concussion,” Dino scolded, but he propped Tsuna up with a sturdy arm.  “The Pokecenter is overcrowded right now, but you were one of the first ones in.  I can pull some strings, get you seen to first.”

Tsuna shook his head.  “No, let the ones who are hurt worse go first.”

Dino furrowed his brows but nodded acceptingly.  His hands drifted over Tsuna, as if he wanted to help but didn’t know how to.  He finally settled on talking.

Apparently, when Tsuna had been crawling through the vents, Jubilife City’s citizens actually _had_ been gathering their Pokeballs, according to Dino’s directions and under Xanxus’ and Kawahira’s watches.  They had been dumping them in boxes guarded over by several grunts.  It was during this process that Tsuna had dropped through the ceiling, distracting Daemon.  Kawahira and Xanxus had immediately jumped to action, taking advantage of Daemon’s preoccupation, and wiped out the grunts they could see and broke into the lower floors.  Dino had gathered all the hostages he could find and guided them out safely while the two Pokemon League trainers had proceeded to mercilessly defeat every single Team Genesis member they could find.  It had resulted in significant structural damage, but luckily the building hadn’t collapsed.  However, fighting their way up the floors had taken too much time, so Kawahira proceeded to forcibly create a shortcut directly to Daemon. 

“Do you know what happened to those grunts guarding the room?” Tsuna asked.

Dino shook his head bemusedly.  “No idea.  They’re either captured or severely hurt right now.  Why?”

 _He has a family,_ Tsuna thought, somewhat inanely, _and he was planning to go on a date._

Dino left him with the rest of his Pokemon.  The Officer had to take order, fill out reports, and help the people.

Tsuna rested his head on the flat stretcher.  Gokudera wiggled under his hand, and Ryohei settled on his other side. 

He drifted back to sleep, surrounded by noise and chaos, under the comforting weight of his Pokemon.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and please leave a review on your way out!
> 
> Sincerely,  
> haplesshippo


End file.
